Gene increases rice yield under drought conditions
Nature Genetics
August 5, 2013

A natural genetic variant that changes the growth angle of rice plant roots allows the plants to maintain high yield under drought conditions, reports an article published online this week in Nature Genetics. These findings may aid the development of rice lines that can better withstand drought conditions and help increase food production in drought-prone areas.
Yusaku Uga and colleagues identified and characterized a gene called DEEPER ROOTING 1 (DRO1) that allows some cultivated rice lines to have deeper roots, giving them better access to water under drought conditions. They further show that breeding DRO1 into a shallow-rooting rice line enabled these plants to avoid drought by increasing the depth of their roots, resulting in higher grain yield.
doi: 10.1038/ng.2725
Research highlights
-
Jan 15
Environment: Seagrass meadows may facilitate marine plastic removal from the seaScientific Reports
-
Jan 15
Planetary Science: Mercury may have shrunk less than previously thoughtCommunications Earth&Environment
-
Jan 13
Environment: Polyester fibres found to be widespread in the ArcticNature Communications
-
Dec 23
Planetary science: Over 100,000 new craters identified on the MoonNature Communications
-
Dec 22
Conservation: Agricultural expansion could cause widespread biodiversity declines by 2050Nature Sustainability
-
Dec 18
Geology: Alpine summits may have been ice-free during life of Tyrolean IcemanScientific Reports