The viviparous8 mutation delays vegetative phase change and accelerates the rate of seedling growth in maize

Summary Post‐embryonic shoot development in plants can be divided into a juvenile vegetative, an adult vegetative, and a reproductive phase, which are expressed in different domains on the shoot axis. The number and position of the phytomers in each phase are determined by the time at which a plant begins and ceases making phytomers of a particular phase and the rate at which phytomers are made during that phase. The viviparous8 (vp8) mutation of maize increases the number of juvenile vegetative phytomers and decreases the number of adult vegetative phytomers by affecting both of these processes. vp8 increases the number of juvenile vegetative phytomers by increasing the rate of leaf initiation early in shoot development and delaying the juvenile‐to‐adult transition (vegetative maturation). It reduces the number of adult phytomers because the delay in vegetative maturation is not matched by a corresponding delay in flowering time; vp8 plants produce a tassel at the same time as wild‐type plants. Thus, Vp8 normally controls the production of a factor that functions both to repress the rate of growth early in shoot development and to promote vegetative maturation, but which has no major role in floral induction. vp8 dramatically enhances the phenotypes of the dwarf and Teopod mutants and requires a functional Glossy15 gene to prolong the expression of juvenile epidermal traits. Evidence suggesting that vp8 does not affect phase change by reducing the level of abscisic acid is discussed.