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Salt-tolerance gene could lead to higher rice yields
September 13, 2005

By Zhang Jun, English.eastday.com via Checkbiotech

A group of local scientists announced yesterday they have found and cloned a key genetic code in rice that is responsible for salt-tolerance - a breakthrough that could eventually lead to higher yields.

The group's findings were published on the online version of "Nature Genetics" - a UK-based scientific journal - on Sunday and the print issue will be published next month, scientists said.

"Hopefully, our research can speed up the country's development of high-yielding rice species," said Lin Hongxuan, a professor at the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology - an arm of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Funded by both the central and Shanghai governments, Lin and more than 13 researchers and students spent the past five years completing the project, which they say is a key achievement in the country's agricultural development.

The group was also supported by researchers from the University of California. During the past five years, Lin and his companions traced the genetic material in six generations of a specially grown hybrid rice.

Each generation took around half a year to grow, Lin said.

By a technique called "precise location," they finally found and cloned the SKC1 gene, which is responsible for salt-tolerance in rice.

Lin said soil with a high salt content can severely affect rice yields, particularly in some coastal areas and the country's northwest regions. Under extreme conditions, it can even reduce rice yields by more than 50 percent.

"Normally, it will take several years for agricultural experts to utilize the discovered gene to optimize rice species and to lift rice yields," Lin said.

He said it might be possible to use the breakthrough to create a genetically modified species of rice.

As the most important grain crop, rice sustains half of the world's population. Improving yields could solve world hunger problems.

According to Wang Guozhong, head of the Shanghai Agricultural Technology Service Center, the discovery will speed up efforts to lift rice yields in the country, although high salt levels aren't a problem for local farmers.

"The discovery is very enlightening and will help farmers increase rice yields in rural areas," he said.

Copyright English.eastday.com


Related article

Gene for salt tolerance found in rice

Jia Hepeng, SciDev.Net

Researchers in China and the United States have identified a rice gene linked to salt tolerance, raising hopes of improving the ability of Asia's most important crop to grow in saline soils.

This discovery could have tremendous significance for China's food security because approximately eight per cent of its rice fields have high levels of salt, says lead researcher Lin Hongxuan of the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences.

In 2001, another group of Chinese researchers developed genetically modified salt-tolerant rice, which is currently undergoing field trials.

But Lin points out that the rice developed by those researchers contains genes from other species. But the gene Lin's group identified — SKC1 — occurs naturally in a variety of Japanese rice called Nona Bokra.

Having a naturally occurring gene for salt tolerance means it should be possible for researchers to develop new salt-tolerant rice varieties using either traditional breeding or genetic engineering techniques.

The SKC1 gene controls the amount of sodium — a component of salt — that builds up in rice plants as they grow. Too much sodium is detrimental to plant growth.

Lin's team used genetic engineering methods to insert the gene into a rice variety with low salt tolerance. The sodium concentration in the modified plants fell by 25-30 per cent.

"Meanwhile, SKC1 improved the concentration of the mineral potassium by 20 per cent, which is beneficial for rice growth," Lin told SciDev.Net.

"But more work, such as testing how SKC1 interacts with other genes, must be done before this gene can be used to develop a new salt-tolerant rice variety," Lin adds.

Lin's team, from the Shanghai Institute for Biological Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the US-based University of California at Berkeley, published their findings online in Nature Genetics, 11 September. The paper will also appear in October's print edition of the journal.

Link to abstract of paper in Nature Genetics: www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/abs/ng1643.html

Reference: Nature Genetics doi:10.1038/ng1643
English.eastday.com via Checkbiotech

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