 |
Feeding
the World:
Researchers Report Complete
Rice Genome Sequence
|
| Rice feeds more than half of the world's human population. Estimates
indicate that the agricultural yield of rice will need to be increased
by some 30% over the next two decades to meet projected increased
demands. In the August 11 issue of the journal Nature, members of
a 10-nation International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP)
report a highly accurate or "finished" map-based DNA sequence
of the entire rice genome. The completed rice genome sequence, which
reveals some 37,500 genes on the 12 chromosomes of rice, provides
the raw material for many studies aimed at improving the agricultural
yield of the world's most important food source. |
|
Moreover, because the rice genome is closely related to that of other
major cereal grasses—including corn, wheat, barley, rye, sorghum,
and millet—the complete rice genome sequence is an extraordinarily
useful resource for identifying genes of interest in a number of different
crop plants that collectively supply two-third's of humanity's food supply.
"
This study revealed thousands of genetic markers or signposts in the
rice genome that are of immediate use to plant breeders and others working
to improve rice agriculture," says Dr. W. Richard McCombie of Cold
Spring Harbor Laboratory, a co-leader of the study.
"
This is also the first finished genome sequence we have from any crop
plant, so rice is now a great model for how to use genome sequence information
to improve many other aspects of agriculture," says McCombie, who
adds that several programs are already under way to study the structure
and function of rice genes as well as agriculturally relevant genetic
variation among different varieties of rice.
By enabling scientists to identify genes that underlie agriculturally
important traits, a previous IRGSP-generated rough draft of the rice
genome sequence—made publicly available in 2002—has already
spurred both biotechnological and conventional plant breeding approaches
to increasing rice yields. The newly-reported, finished rice genome sequence
has the potential to greatly accelerate these efforts.
Formally established in 1998, the Japanese-led International Rice Genome
Sequencing Project comprises researchers from 32 institutions in Japan,
China, India, Thailand, Taiwan, Brazil, France, Canada, the United Kingdom,
and the United States. Major U.S. funding for the project was from the
National Science Foundation, U.S. Department of Agriculture-Cooperative
State Research, Education and Extension Service, U.S. Department of Energy,
and the Rockefeller Foundation. U.S. Efforts were coordinated by the
National Plant Genome Initiative.
Participating U.S. institutions were Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, the
University of Arizona, Rutgers University, The Institute for Genomic
Research, Washington University in St. Louis, the University of Wisconsin-Madison,
Brookhaven National Laboratory, and Cornell University. |
