Another super rice

Vyacheslav Golovanov, Geektimes, based on ArsTechnica: Genetically modified rice makes more food, less greenhouse gas 

Researchers from the Swedish Agricultural University have integrated a gene from barley into rice, which made it possible to obtain a culture characterized by increased yield and reduced emission of methane, a gas involved in the intensification of the greenhouse effect.

The roots of rice growing in flooded rice fields emit organic substances. These substances serve as food for microorganisms that emit methane in the course of their vital activity. Of course, farmers are not worried about this, but about rice yields – but scientists are just worried about global warming and the greenhouse effect, in which CH4 emissions play an important role.

A study conducted back in 2002 suggested a solution to the problem that would be advantageous for all parties: if rice with smaller roots is removed, and more with the upper part, then yields will increase, and methane will not be released as actively. 

This is exactly what our heroes – scientists Yun Su, Changkuan Hu and Xiao Yang managed to do. The SUSIBA2 barley gene causes rice to redistribute energy so that the upper part of the plant, including seeds, grows much more actively, due to the fact that more carbohydrates accumulate in the upper part of the plant. 

According to the results of experiments during which a genetically modified crop was grown in various climatic conditions of China, it turned out that methane production decreased by an amount from 90% to 99%, due to a significant reduction in the number of microbes. And the yield increases by about 50% due to the more powerful upper part.

On the left – the root of GMO rice, on the right – ordinary. The difference in the number of microorganisms is visible.

The methane content in the atmosphere is low (0.0002% by volume), and for a long time its influence on the greenhouse effect was not given any importance at all. But then it turned out that this greenhouse gas has the ability to absorb infrared radiation of the earth's surface much more strongly than carbon dioxide of the same mass, and its content in the atmosphere is growing rapidly. At the same time, rice fields with their microorganisms are the largest source of methane, their contribution is about 25% of all methane appearing in the atmosphere.

The work published in the journal Nature (Su et al., Expression of barley SUSIBA2 transcription factor yields high-star low-methane rice) was commented on by Paul Bodelier, a researcher from the Netherlands Institute of Microbial Ecology. In general, he gave a positive assessment of the work of the specialists of the Swedish Institute, but drew attention to the fact that it is necessary to conduct further experiments that will confirm the possibility of widespread dissemination of the new culture. The ecological balance is a very complex thing, and a serious decrease in the number of microbes can affect other aspects of crop growth – for example, the need to increase the amount of fertilizers or to reduce the resistance of crops to diseases.

But, thanks to the opponents of genetically modified products, who are terrified of all crops obtained "in vitro", even after successful tests, such rice will not be immediately sold to farmers for sowing. As one of the researchers explained in an interview, they will have to breed exactly the same rice in the "usual" breeding way. It will be exactly the same, and even contain the same gene – but such a "traditional" way will be more acceptable to society. And this process is not fast, and can take from 5 to 10 years of work.

Portal "Eternal youth" http://vechnayamolodost.ru

24.07.2015