rice

Whole genome fine map of rice completed

After the completion of a draft sequence of the Chinese hybrid rice genome, which was published in the Journal Science in 2002, CAS researchers have recently finished the fine map of the rice genome. In an article published by the recent issue of PLoS Biology (Vol.3 Issue 2, 2005), scientists led by the Beijing Institute of Genomics (BIG) reported a "much improved, near-complete genome analysis o...

Genetically modified rice in China benefits farmers' health, study finds

Farmers growing genetically modified rice in field trials in China report higher crop yields, reduced pesticide use and fewer pesticide-related health problems, according to a study by researchers in China and at Rutgers University and the University of California, Davis. "This paper studies two of the f...

Researchers uncover sequence of major rice pathogen

In a genomics milestone, an international consortium of researchers has for the first time lifted the veil from a fungal plant pathogen by sequencing the genome ?or set of all genes ?of the most destructive enemy of rice: Magnaporthe grisea, the fungus that causes rice blast disease. Dr. Ralph Dean, professor of plant pathology and director of North Carolina State University's Center for I...

Are rice and wheat behind China's population boom?

The rapid growth of the earliest cities in northern China starting as far back as 2400 to 2000 BC is the result of successful rice farming combined with other crops, says University of Toronto anthropologist Gary Crawford. Although we often associate rice with Chinese agriculture, most archeologists have, until recently, thought it was exclusively millet that was the most important food as...

Rice scientists unveil 'nanoegg'

Researchers at Rice University's Laboratory for Nanophotonics (LANP) have unveiled the "nanoegg," the latest addition to their family ultrasmall, light-focusing particles. A cousin of the versatile nanoshell, nanoeggs are asymmetric specks of matter whose striking optical properties can be harnessed for molecular imaging, medical diagnostics, chemical sensing and more. Nanoeggs are descri...

Purdue researchers find key to rice blast fungus

Efforts to halt a fungus that deprives about 60 million people a year of food have led Purdue University scientists to discover the molecular machinery that enables the pathogen to blast its way into rice plants. The fungus, Magnaporthe grisea, which is known as rice blast fungus, is the most deadly of the pathogens that attack rice, reducing yields by as much as 75 percent in infected ar...

Restaurant seafood prices since 1850s help plot marine harvests through history

Seafood prices collected from U.S. restaurant menus dating to the 1850s will help plot the shifting harvest of marine species, according to a study to be announced at Oceans Past a Census of Marine Life conference in Denmark on the History of Marine Animal Populations. Led by paleo-oceanographer Glenn Jones at Texas A&M University at Galveston, researchers are charting over 150 years o...

Study finds that nutritionally enhanced rice reduces iron deficiency

Breeding rice with higher levels of iron can have an important impact on reducing micronutrient malnutrition, according to a new study in the Journal of Nutrition. The research, conducted by scientists from the Philippines and the United States, is a major step forward in the battle against iron deficiency, one of the developing world's most debilitating and intractable public health problems aff...

Rice bioengineers pioneer techniques for knee repair

A breakthrough self-assembly technique for growing replacement cartilage offers the first hope of replacing the entire articular surface of knees damaged by arthritis. The technique, developed at Rice University's Musculoskeletal Bioengineering Laboratory, is described in this month's issue of the journal Tissue Engineering. "This has significant ramifications because we are now beginning...

Climate change: The rice genome to the rescue

New evidence is emerging that climate change could reduce not only the world's ability to produce food but also international efforts to cut poverty. However, the recent sequencing of the rice genome is already providing researchers with some of the tools they need to help poor rice farmers and consumers avoid the worst effects of the problem. The new knowledge generated by the sequencing...

USC, Rice to develop bacteria-powered fuel cells

A diverse team of microbiologists, engineers and geochemists from the University of Southern California and Rice University are joining forces to create bacteria-powered fuel cells that could power spy drones that fit in the palm of a hand. The Air Force has long been interested in micro-scale air vehicles ?some as small as insects ?but it has been stymied by the lack of a suitable, compac...

Rice University researchers create 'nanorice'

Researchers at Children's Hospital & Research Center at Oakland (CHRCO) have published a new study that is the first to explain how brain cells die in patients with Alzheimer's Disease. This discovery is an important first step to helping researchers devise ways to slow, prevent and eventually cure a disease that affects an estimated 4.5 million Americans. In a study published in the...

How nice, brown rice: Study shows rice bran lowers blood pressure in rats

Thousands of years ago, humans began scrubbing off and discarding the outer layer of long-grain rice, preferring the polished white kernel beneath. Now, for the first time, scientists in Japan have shown that this waste product of rice processing, called rice bran, significantly lowers blood pressure in rats whose hypertension resembles that of humans. The team reports their findings in th...

Rice scientists make first nanoscale pH meter

Using unique nanoparticles that convert laser light into useful information, Rice University scientists have created the world's first nano-sized pH meter. "Al...

A more powerful and efficient engine for rice: the C3-C4 challenge

A major international scientific effort was launched last week to develop and use a radical new approach to boost rice production and avoid potential rice shortages, or even future famine. Scientists have been working on different aspects of the approach since the early 1990s. But new knowledge generated by the sequencing of the rice genome is allowing researchers for the first time to di...

Researchers develop flood-tolerant California rice

Rice grown anywhere in the world soon could be made completely flood-tolerant because of new research by UC Riverside geneticists, done in collaboration with scientists at UC Davis and the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines. By gradually introducing into California rice "submergence tolerance," a property that enables rice to survive extreme flood conditions, the researchers...

Think fast! Rice undergrad unlocks nerve speed secret

In the second it takes you to read these words, tens of thousands of vesicles in your optic nerves are released in sequence, opening tiny surface pores to pass chemical signals to the next cell down the line, telling your brain what you're seeing and your eyes where to move. Thanks to two new studies ?including one spearheaded by an undergraduate biochemistry student at Rice University and publis...

New flood-tolerant rice offers relief for world's poorest farmers

A gene that enables rice to survive complete submergence has beenidentified by a team of researchers at the International RiceResearch Institute in the Philippines and at the University ofCalifornia's Davis and Riverside campuses. The discovery allows fordevelopment of new rice varieties that can withstand flooding, thusovercoming one of agriculture's oldest challenges and offering reliefto milli...

Biologists find regions of rice domestication

Biologists from Washington University in St. Louis and their collaborators from Taiwan have examined the DNA sequence family trees of rice varieties and have determined that the crop was domesticated independently at least twice in various Asian locales. Jason Londo, Washington University in Arts & Sciences biology doctoral candidate, and his adviser, Barbara A. Schaal, Ph.D., Washingt...

A rice future for Asia

Whether it's rice farming or rice research, very few of Asia's best and brightest young people are interested in a career in an industry that has been a foundation of the Asian way of life for generations. Few rice farmers want their children to be rice farmers, and even fewer young Asians are choosing careers in rice science, despite its vital importance to the region. However, an innova...

Liquorice cancer care

Liquorice compounds could be a key component for cheaper, more effective liver cancer treatment, reports Lisa Richards in Chemistry & Industry magazine. Liver cancer affects over 2,800 people in the UK each year, of which nearly 2,700 die, according to Cancer Research UK. Surgery is the best option, but is unsuitable for most patients, and liver tumours are very resistant to chemothera...

A cleaner, greener rice industry

In a new partnership, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) is working with the member countries of the Association of South East Asian Nations (ASEAN) to develop a series of environmental indicators for rice production in the region. When implemented, the indicators will allow each country to monitor and compare the environmental impact of its rice production with that of its n...

From hot springs to rice farms, scientists reveal new insights into the secret lives of archaea

In the world of microbes, as in politics, some groups just can't seem to shake the label ''extremist.'' So it is with archaea (ar-KEY-uh), a collection of bacteria-like microorganisms whose unique genetics and chemical structure separate them from all other living things. For years, biologists have pigeonholed archaea as extremophiles-creatures that live in extreme conditions. Indeed, many...

Discovery of the first resistance gene to rice yellow mottle virus

Rice yellow mottle virus (RYMV) was first identified in 1966 in Kenya. It has since been reported in most African countries where rice is grown. The disease is characterized by the appearance of mottling and then tissue death on the leaves. The fertility and development of seeds are affected, which causes considerable yield losses at harvest. Transmission of RYMV occurs by way of insect v...

The price of vanity: Mating with showy males may reduce offspring's ability to fight off pathogens

In many animals, males advertise to potential mates with showy traits, many of which are linked to testosterone levels. However, a new study suggests that, in fish, choosing a flashier mate may cause future generations to be more susceptible to pathogens. In the January 2007 issue of The American Naturalist, a new study by Judith Mank (Uppsala University, Sweden) finds that mating with ma...

Biologists develop large gene dataset for rice plant

Scientists have reported development of a large dataset of gene sequences in rice. The information will lead to an increased understanding of how genes work in rice, an essential food for much of the world's population....

New knowledge improves rice quality

A major international initiative is being launched to try to boost the income of the world’s millions of poor rice farmers and at the same time provide consumers with more nutritious, better tasting food. New scientific knowledge is allowing rice researchers to develop better quality rice varieties that could fetch a higher price from consumers, especially increasingly affluent rice consum...