Rice value chain/Africa - China clones heat-tolerant gene from African rice strain
08 June 2015
Global warming threatens many aspects of human life through the heat stress which can strain rice proteins and cause the plant to wither thus reducing production. Breeding heat-tolerant crops using genes conferring thermo tolerance is a fundamental way to help deal with this challenge. Chinese scientists have succeeded in isolating and cloning heat-tolerant genes from African rice strains(Oryza glaberrima), which could help develop rice varieties that can withstand climate change brought by global warming. The team from Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences said that the gene’s dominant traits enable the plant to withstand high temperatures. The cloned gene, could be transplanted to develop new varieties or rice, wheat, and cruciferous vegetables.
http://allafrica.com/stories/201505261917.html
http://www.nature.com/ng/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/ng.3305.html