Getting rice to soak up more rays
5 Feb 2009 by Evoluted New Media
Scientists at Oxford University have set out to make rice more efficient by actually changing the way it uses solar energy.
Scientists at Oxford University have set out to make rice more efficient by actually changing the way it uses solar energy.
They are part of an international venture to attempt to modify photosynthesis in rice by genetic engineering, as part of an attempt to increase the yield of rice in terms of chemical energy stores.
Professor Jane Langdale, a lead investigator for the Oxford group, said: “The type of photosynthesis that occurs in rice is not as efficient as in many other crop species.”
Globally, rice is a staple food for 50% of the population, and as the population continues to grow, boosting the rice crop could be crucial. Other crop species, such as maize and sorghum, have a much more efficient way of using solar energy to convert carbon dioxide into carbohydrate, because they utilise photosynthesis in a slightly different way. The research will focus on the creation of a rice crop which uses this same process. The hope is that rice yields can be increased by as much as 50% but at the same time, use less fertiliser and less water.
Professor Langdale’s group plan to investigate the role specific genes play in determining the leaf structures in these better yielding crops to see if the mechanism that rice crops use to harness solar energy can be improved with genetic manipulation. The project is likely to take at least a decade, but the benefits to both farmers and the growing population, particularly in the third world, could be immense.
The project is led by the International Rice Research Institute and consists of a consortium of Universities in both the UK and the USA. Other UK members include Cambridge, Dundee, Nottingham and Sheffield.
By Georgina Lavender
