Every year floods destroy hundreds of hectares of rice plants in lowland regions of Southeast Asia. These floods force many farmers to grow a variety of rice plants, that have long stems. These plants however have a very low yield compared to the shorter stem rice plant varieties. Scientists at the Nagoya University have recently managed to isolate the genes which give deepwater rice varieties their long stems. The genes are called snorkel 1 and 2
They have discovered that as water levels rise, the deepwater rice plants release a hormone called ethylene which activates the genes snorkel 1 and 2 which in turn causes rapid stem growth. The higher the water rises, the more ethylene released. Scientists 'trialled this by inserting these two genes into non deepwater rice plants and found that they grew longer stems. It is hoped that this breakthrough will help farmers grow high yielding rice species in flood prone regions.
Original article from: http://www.newsdaily.com/stories/tre57i4t7-us-rice-floods/
Derek Ngoo 43054647
