Phosphorus uptake gene 'could boost rice yields'

Joel Adriano and Iman Zarei

30 August 2012 | EN

Other crops, including corn, could also benefit from the newly discovered rice gene, say experts

Flickr/IRRI Images

[MANILA] A rice gene that could significantly raise the rate of phosphorus uptake in rice varieties has been discovered by a team of international researchers, who claim that it could increase rice yields by up to 20 per cent.

The gene is called PSTOL1, which stands for Phosphorus Starvation Tolerance. It enhances the root growth of rice plants, enabling them to acquire more phosphorous and other nutrients locked in soils.

Sigrid Heuer, a senior scientist at the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in the Philippines, and leader of the team that published the study in Nature last week (22 August), said low phosphorus availability in soils affects about half of the world's farmlands. Affected soils require additional applications of phosphorous fertiliser to make them productive.

However, the global demand for such fertiliser is increasing. As a result, prices have almost tripled since 2005. For poor farmers who cannot afford the high prices, yields remain very low.

The discovery of the PSTOL1 gene will make it easier for breeders to develop new rice varieties with enhanced phosphorus uptake using breeding techniques, such as marker-assisted selection, since they will have confidence that the new varieties contain the gene.

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Phosphorus uptake gene 'could boost rice yields'

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