Introducing selective agrochemical manipulation of gibberellin metabolism into a cereal crop

Mepiquat chloride is a growth retardant used in cotton farming to optimize growth by inhibiting gibberellin metabolism, but it is not effective in other crops. Now, its molecular target is found, enabling selective agrochemical inhibition of growth in cereals. Use of growth retardants enables post-planting optimization of vegetative growth, which is particularly important given ongoing climate change. Mepiquat chloride is an economical and safe retardant widely applied in cotton farming, but it is not uniformly effective. Here, identification of its molecular target as the ent-copalyl diphosphate synthase that initiates gibberellin biosynthesis enabled the introduction of selective agrochemical inhibition, leaving intact more specialized metabolism important for resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses.