ROLE OF GRAVITROPIC RESPONSE IN THE DRY-MATTER PRODUCTION OF RICE (ORYZA-SATIVA L) - AN EXPERIMENT WITH A LINE HAVING LAZY GENE

Role of gravitropic response in the dry matter production was explored using a near isogenic line pair of rice; Kamenoo and lazy-Kamenoo. Productive structures were quite different in plant with a lazy gene, lazy-Kamenoo from in Kamenoo. Heads were oriented in the surface of canopy in Kamenoo, while they distributed in all zones from the soil surface to the top of canopy in lazy -Kamenoo. The value of SLA, ratio of leaf area to leaf weight, was the same at the early stage of growth between Kamenoo and lazy-Kamenoo. However the value rapidly decreased in lazy-Kamenoo indicating that the thickness of leaves increased more rapidly with the advance of growth in plants with the lazy-gene. Tiller shoots of lazy-Kamenoo, showed prostrate or spreading growth pattern. This is probably due to the inability or reduced responsibility to gravity since they showed only reduced response to gravistimulation in 12- and 13-leaf stage and almost no response was detected in 14-leaf stage. On the other hand, Kamenoo well responded to gravistimulation in all growth stages tested. Thus, the difference in productive structure in two near isogenic lines was explained, at least in part, by their difference in gravitropic response.