Fig. 1.

The bz1 mutant displays both brittle culm and zebra leaf phenotypes. a Wild-type (WT) and bz1 plants at the mature stage. The images are representative of 20 plants for each genotype. b Folding of stems of WT and bz1 to show brittleness. c Leaf color of WT and bz1 at the seeding stage. d Measurements of the breaking force (Newtons) of basal stem internodes. e TEM micrographs of sclerenchyma and parenchyma cells. f Measurement of cell wall thickness shows thinner walls in bz1 compared with the WT. g Cell wall composition of mature stem. * indicates significant differences between WT and bz1 by t-test at P < 0.05. h-i Chloroplast structures in leaves of WT (h) and bz1 (i) at the tillering stage. The images are representative of six plants for each genotype