Editor's Summary
10 August 2006
Not taken at the flood
In many Asian countries, rice crops are prone to destruction by flooding. Most cultivars of rice, Oryza sativa, die after a week of complete submergence, but a few strains can survive a couple of weeks under water due to a major quantitative trait locus called Submergence 1 (Sub1). A detailed study of the Sub1 genes has now identified one, Sub1A, as the primary determinant of tolerance to submergence. The introduction of Sub1A into a widely grown Asian rice cultivar increases its survival rate in flood conditions without sacrificing its high yield and other good properties.
News and Views: Plant breeding: Rice in deep water
Many otherwise productive cultivars of rice suffer badly if immersed in water for long. The identification of a gene variant that confers tolerance to this threat has practical potential.
Takuji Sasaki
doi:10.1038/442635a
Letter: Sub1A is an ethylene-response-factor-like gene that confers submergence tolerance to rice
Kenong Xu, Xia Xu, Takeshi Fukao, Patrick Canlas, Reycel Maghirang-Rodriguez, Sigrid Heuer, Abdelbagi M. Ismail, Julia Bailey-Serres, Pamela C. Ronald & David J. Mackill
doi:10.1038/nature04920
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