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GM rice could boost yields
Posted: Wednesday, January 28, 2009 2:52 pm
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An ambitious project to re-engineer photosynthesis in rice, led by the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), could result in plants that can produce 50% more grain using less fertilizer and less water. Funded with a grant of US$11 million over 3 years from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the project aims to make rice grow as efficiently as maize.

Photosynthesis, the process by which plants use solar energy to capture carbon dioxide and convert it into the carbohydrates required for growth, is not the same for all plants. Some species, including rice, have a mode of photosynthesis (known as C3) in which the capture of carbon dioxide is relatively inefficient. Other plants, such as maize and sorghum, have evolved a much more efficient form of photosynthesis known as C4.

According to IRRI scientist and project leader John Sheehy, in tropical climates the efficiency of solar energy conversion of crops using so-called C4 photosynthesis is about 50% higher than that of C3 crops.

"Converting the photosynthesis of rice from the less-efficient C3 form to the C4 form would increase yields by 50%," said Dr. Sheehy, adding that C4 rice would also use water twice as efficiently. In developing tropical countries, where billions of poor people rely on rice as their staple food, "The benefits of such an improvement in the face of increasing world population, increasing food prices, and decreasing natural resources would be immense," he said.

"This is a long-term, complex project that will take a decade or more to complete," said Dr. Sheehy. "The result of this strategic research has the potential to benefit billions of poor people."
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GMO (noun) 1. An acronym for the term, 'Genetically Modified Organism'. 2. A plant, animal or microbe with a genetic code which has been intentionally altered, such as through forced evolution (see selective breeding); through random mutations induced with radiation or chemicals (see mutagenesis); or through the selective transfer, promoting or silencing of specific genes (see genetic engineering). 3. Most generally, any descendant of a primordial urbiote. (See evolution.)

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