news bytes
Indian scientists develop
transgenic rice that can
withstand drought
A group of Indian,
Chinese, and Canadian
scientists have developed
transgenic rice that gives
high yields even under
severe water deficit.
The new rice variety
has been developed
by transferring a gene
from a common plant,
Arabidopsis thaliana, into
a variety of Indian rice
called samba mahsuri.
This gene is known to
be involved in pathways
controlling growth and
development. Arabidopsis
thaliana is a flowering
plant widely used for
research purposes but it
has no agronomic value as
such.
Putting the thaliana
62
BioVoiceNews | June 2017
gene into rice increased
its height, length of the
panicle that encloses
the grain, efficiency
of photosynthesis,
chlorophyll content,
and water use efficiency.
Under water scarce
conditions created in
laboratory, the transgenic
rice performed better
than their unmodified
counterparts, according to
research results published
in journal Scientific
Reports.
The content of chlorophyll
which is required for
plants to grow reduces
under stress conditions
like drought, which in
turn hits the yield. The
transgenic rice maintained
high chlorophyll content
even under water-deficit
and therefore performed
better.
The research team
included 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 of
Hyderabad and PJTS
Agricultural University
in Hyderabad, University
of Agricultural Sciences-
GKVK in Bangalore,
besides scientists from
National Research Council
of Canada in Canada,
and Chinese academy of
Agricultural Sciences in
Beijing, and Chongqing
University in Chongqing,
China.
Govt to set up Indian
Agricultural Research
Institute in Assam
The Cabinet Committee
on Economic Affairs,
chaired by the Prime
Minister, Mr Narendra
Modi, has approved
the setting up of Indian
Agricultural Research
Institute (lARI) in Assam.
lARI-Assam would be a
post-graduate Institution
of higher learning in
agricultural education.
It will have the hallmark
identity of an IARI