Abstract: Forage grass breeding is an important foundation for sustainable development of forage industries. At present, in addition to conventional breeding methods, molecular breeding methods have also made some breakthroughs, especially in breeding for stress resistance. Plant architecture is an important agronomic trait of plants, and it is an important trait that affects plant colony structure and yield formation. Historically, the molecular mechanisms and regulatory networks of plant architecture in annual crops have been systematically studied, but there are fewer studies on the mechanisms governing plant architecture in forage grasses. Most of the extant studies deal with yield-related traits and basic molecular breeding. In this paper, the factors influencing the formation of plant architecture and their mechanism are summarized, and the research progress in forage grass plant architecture traits is reviewed. Lastly, the current key issues in forage plant architecture research and breeding are briefly reviewed, and some suggestions are put forward. It is concluded that the research strategy for forage plant architecture modification through breeding can be developed by referring to the frontier research directions of the crop of interest.

Key words: forage grass, plant architecture, morphological characters, breeding