Development, genetic deciphering, and breeding utilization of dwarf lines in foxtail millet

Foxtail millet(Setaria italica) is an important cereal crop in northern China's arid and semiarid dry land agriculture,which has recently been proposed as a novel model for functional genomics. Breeding dwarf varieties is the development trend of foxtail millet industry. To date, more than 70 foxtail millet dwarf lines have been developed and reported worldwide. According to morphological characteristics, foxtail millet dwarf lines can be divided into two types: compact type with erect leaves and conventional type with droopy leaves. Gibberellins(GA) sensitivity assay indicated that four materials were not sensitive to GA and the others were sensitive. Genetic analyses detected that most of the dwarf phenotype lines were controlled by recessive genes, but the height phenotype of Ai 88 was controlled by multi-dwarf-gene. So far, 79 QTL related with plant height regulation were detected by natural population GWAS or linkage analysis. Among seven genes or QTL fine mapped in foxtail millet, the semi-dominant dwar