Shoot and inflorescence architecture

Shoot and inflorescence architecture are morphological structures that impact crop productivity. An understanding of the developmental processes that control these structures has been advanced by the identification and characterization of numerous mutant and natural alleles. Recent advances in barley genomics have facilitated the isolation of these genes. The aims of this chapter are to describe the developmental processes controlling shoot and inflorescence development, the key genes regulating these processes, and the potential approaches to exploit this information for barley improvement. To that end, we have divided this chapter into three major sections including a basic description of barley shoot and inflorescence architecture, genetic control of shoot and inflorescence architecture, and potential approaches to alter shoot and inflorescence architecture that may result in increased crop productivity.