India-Australia Collaboration To Develop Stress-Tolerant Rice

The US$546,800 joint project between India and Australia aims to develop a drought and salt-resistant rice strain by introducing Australian resurrection grass genes.

AsianScientist (Mar. 19, 2014) – The International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in New Delhi, the Tamil Nadu Agriculture University (TNAU) in Coimbatore, Southern India and the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Australia are partnering to develop stress-tolerant rice based on a native Australian grass.

Professor Sagadevan Mundree, Deputy Director of QUT’s Center for Tropical Crops and Biocommodities, said that rice is one of the most important staple foods throughout the world but salinity and drought stresses were putting the crop’s long-term future under enormous pressure.

“Current rice varieties are heavily dependent on fresh water,” Professor Mundree said. “However it is commonly accepted that the salinization of soils is a growing problem globally. In addition, the lower and erratic rainfall pattern has resulted in major reductions in crop productivity, including rice.”

To address this issue, scientists at QUT have studied a native Australian grass known as the “resurrection plant” because it can tolerate extreme environmental stresses, including severe drought, salinity, high temperature and high light-intensity stresses for prolonged periods and resurrect within 24-72 hours upon rehydration.

“Here at QUT we have already isolated genes from the Australian resurrection grass that would be used to enhance stress tolerance in rice. Now we will work to get a better molecular understanding of how the drought-tolerant gene works and prepare it for transfer into rice by our Indian partners,” said Professor Mundree.

Professor Mundree said the three-year project had already attracted interest from companies keen to see a demonstration of stress-tolerant rice.

The AUD$600,000 (US$546,800) project is jointly funded by the Department of Biotechnology, India, and the Australian Government under the Australia-India Strategic Research Fund.

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Source: Queensland University of Technology; Photo: IRRI Images/Flickr/CC.

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