Los Baños, The Philippines
January 14, 2009
An ambitious project to
re-engineer photosynthesis in rice, led by the
International Rice Research
Institute (IRRI) through a global consortium of scientists,
has received a grant of US$11 million over 3 years from the Bill
& Melinda Gates Foundation. As a result of research being
conducted by this group, rice plants that can produce 50% more
grain using less fertilizer and less water are a step closer to
reality.
Currently, more than a billion people worldwide live on less
than a dollar a day and nearly one billion live in hunger. Over
the next 50 years, the population of the world will increase by
about 50% and water scarcity will grow. About half of the
world’s population consumes rice as a staple cereal, so boosting
its productivity is crucial to achieving long-term food
security. IRRI is leading the effort to achieve a major increase
in global rice production by using modern molecular tools to
develop a more efficient and higher-yielding form of rice.
Photosynthesis, the process by which plants use solar energy to
capture carbon dioxide and convert it into the carbohydrates
required for growth, is not the same for all plants. Some
species, including rice, have a mode of photosynthesis (known as
C3) in which the capture of carbon dioxide is relatively
inefficient. Other plants, such as maize and sorghum, have
evolved a much more efficient form of photosynthesis known as
C4.
According
to IRRI scientist and project leader John Sheehy, in tropical
climates the efficiency of solar energy conversion of crops
using so-called C4 photosynthesis is about 50% higher than that
of C3 crops. Given the demands from an increasing population,
combined with less available land and water, adequate future
supplies of rice will need to come in large part through
substantial yield boosts and more efficient use of crop inputs.
“Converting the photosynthesis of rice from the less-efficient
C3 form to the C4 form would increase yields by 50%,” said Dr.
Sheehy, adding that C4 rice would also use water twice as
efficiently. In developing tropical countries, where billions of
poor people rely on rice as their staple food, “The benefits of
such an improvement in the face of increasing world population,
increasing food prices, and decreasing natural resources would
be immense,” he said.
“This is a long-term, complex project that will take a decade or
more to complete,” said Dr. Sheehy. “The result of this
strategic research has the potential to benefit billions of poor
people.”
The C4 Rice Consortium combines the strengths of a range of
partners, including molecular biologists, geneticists,
physiologists, biochemists, and mathematicians, representing
leading research organizations worldwide. Members include Yale,
Cornell, Florida, and Washington State universities in the
United States; Oxford, Cambridge, Dundee, Nottingham, and
Sheffield universities in Britain; the Commonwealth Scientific
and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO), Australian
National University, and James Cook University in Australia;
Heinrich Heine University and the Institute for Biology in
Germany; Jiangsu Academy in China; the University of Toronto in
Canada; and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United
Nations.
The International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is the
world’s leading rice research and training center. Based in the
Philippines, with offices in 13 other countries, IRRI is an
autonomous, nonprofit institution focused on improving the
well-being of present and future generations of rice farmers and
consumers, particularly those with low incomes, while preserving
natural resources. IRRI is one of 15 centers supported, in part,
by members of the Consultative Group on International
Agricultural Research (CGIAR; www.cgiar.org) and a range of
other funding agencies.
Guided by the belief that every life has equal value, the Bill &
Melinda Gates Foundation works to help all people lead healthy,
productive lives. In developing countries, it focuses on
improving people’s health and giving them the chance to lift
themselves out of hunger and extreme poverty. In the United
States, it seeks to ensure that all people, especially those
with the fewest resources, have access to the opportunities they
need to succeed in school and life. Based in Seattle, the
foundation is led by CEO Jeff Raikes and co-chair William H.
Gates Sr., under the direction of Bill and Melinda Gates and
Warren Buffett.
Web sites: IRRI Home (www.irri.org)
IRRI Library (http://ricelib.irri.cgiar.org)
Rice Knowledge Bank (www.knowledgebank.irri.org) |
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