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Genetic drivers of high-rise rice that survives deep floods

Rice in deepwater paddy fields can survive a slow-rising flood by a remarkably rapid elongation of submerged stem sections. Two genes discovered to affect this process could aid targeted improvements in crop height and flood tolerance.
  1. Julia Bailey-Serres

    1. Julia Bailey-Serres is at the Center for Plant Cell Biology, University of California, Riverside, California 92521, USA.

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  2. Laurentius A. C. J. Voesenek

    1. Laurentius A. C. J. Voesenek is at the Institute of Environmental Biology, Utrecht University, 3584 CH Utrecht, the Netherlands.

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The height that a plant reaches during its life cycle is influenced by both its genetic inheritance and its environment. The agricultural revolution of the 1960s led to a rise in the productivity of rice (Oryza sativa) and wheat (Triticum aestivum) through the adoption of varieties with a genetic predisposition to having a short height through restrained stem elongation. This trait allows more of the carbon generated by photosynthesis to be allocated to flowers and grain production, rather than being directed to stem biomass. Moreover, these shorter, highly productive varieties are much less likely to topple over at maturity, or during driving rain, than are taller varieties. Writing in Nature, Nagai et al.1 describe the identification of genes that accelerate or decelerate stem elongation during specific phases of rice development.

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Nature 584, 44-45 (2020)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-020-02059-0

References

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