Indian scientists develop rice that yields better under drought

A group of Indian, Chinese, and Canadian scientists have made transgenic rice that gives high yields even under severe water deficit. The rice is made by transferring the TOR gene from Arabidopsis thaliana plant into Indica BPT5024 variety of rice, commonly known as samba mahsuri. This gene is known to be involved in pathways controlling growth and development.

Putting this gene into rice increased its height, length of the panicle that encloses the grain, efficiency of photosynthesis, chlorophyll content, and water use efficiency. Under lab controlled water scarce conditions, the transgenic rice performed better than their unmodified counterparts. The results were published in a recent issue of the journal Scientific Reports.

The content of chlorophyll- the pigment required for plants to grow; reduces under stress conditions like drought, which in turn minimizes the yield. The new transgenic rice maintained high chlorophyll content even under water-deficit and therefore performed better. Transgenic rice were made by Achala Bakshi, Mazahar Moin, M Udaya Kumar, Aramati Bindu Madhava Reddy, Maozhi Ren, Raju Datla, E A Siddiq, and P B Kirti at the University ofHyderabad and PJTS Agricultural University in Hyderabad, University ofAgricultural Sciences-GKVK in Bangalore, National Research Council of Canada in Canada, and Chinese academy of Agricultural Sciences in Beijing, and ChongqingUniversity in Chongqing, China. 

Seedlings of transgenic rice that perform better under drought conditions are seen growing in small plates in the lab (above). They grow taller compared to non-transgenic rice plants in pots with lesser water in a greenhouse (below).

“The need of extensive irrigation is a major constraint in rice production. Overexpressing TOR gene plays a major role in improving plant development, biomass, and yield potential under limited water conditions. Transgenic plants would be expected to have higher yields and better plant performance. Also, saved water, the most important ingredient in cultivation, could be utilized in the cultivation of other crops that need water and are deprived of it”,  says PB Kirti, professor at the Department of Plant sciences, University of Hyderabad. 

This story was published by Down to Earth, Outlook India, BioVoice, and IndiaScience Wire. 

Reference: ScientificReports 7:42835.