Chinese scientists identify yield-boosting rice gene

Li Jiao

5 July 2012 | EN |

Scientists say the new gene could improve both rice yields and quality, in China and across the world

Flickr/randomwire

[BEIJING] Researchers in China have identified a rice gene that could improve both the quality and yield of the staple crop.

Xiangdong Fu, a geneticist at the Institute of Genetics and Development Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, China, and colleagues first discovered the gene known as GW8 while studying basmati rice in Pakistan.

Basmati rice is well known for its good grain quality. The researchers found that this feature is influenced by the presence of a gene known as GW8, which can also improve the appearance and flavour of rice.

Fu and his colleagues hypothesised that high-quality Chinese rice varieties might also have the GW8 gene.

Following a series of field studies in Beijing, Guangzhou and Hainan in 2009, the researchers found that a variant of the GW8 gene does exist in certain varieties of high-yielding rice in China.

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Chinese scientists identify yield-boosting rice gene

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