Harnessing salt tolerance and C
Prusty MR, Henchanova SL, Chatterjee J, Ramos J, Sapin J
Climate Adaptation
Rice paddies in coastal Bangladesh, Vietnam, and the Philippines are already losing ground to saltwater — this research is the first real genetic bridge between a wild rice that shrugs off seawater and the white rice those communities depend on.
There's a wild relative of rice that actually grows in coastal saltwater — a plant most cultivated rice varieties would die in. Researchers spent years painstakingly crossing this tough wild species with ordinary farmed rice, generating tens of thousands of hybrid seeds to get viable offspring. They succeeded in transferring the wild plant's salt-toughness and a more efficient way of turning sunlight into energy into a crop rice background, opening the door to varieties that could grow in areas being swallowed by rising, saltier seas.
Key Findings
Researchers made 36,000 interspecific crosses to overcome the reproductive barrier between wild coastal rice (Oryza coarctata) and cultivated rice (Oryza sativa), successfully producing viable hybrids.
A 132-marker genetic toolkit spanning all 12 rice chromosomes was developed to confirm true hybridization and track which wild-rice genes were successfully introduced into crop lines.
The team produced monosomic alien addition lines (MAALs) and disomic introgression lines (DILs) — stepping-stone breeding lines that allow specific salt-tolerance and C₄-like photosynthesis traits to be precisely transferred into the IR56 indica cultivar background.
chevron_right Technical Summary
Scientists successfully crossbred a salt-tolerant wild rice species that grows in coastal seawater with ordinary cultivated rice, transferring genes for both salt tolerance and more efficient photosynthesis into a crop variety. This breakthrough could help feed millions of people in low-lying coastal areas threatened by rising seas and saltwater intrusion.
Abstract Preview
Developing rice varieties suitable for salt-affected coastal regions is critical for ensuring food security in the face of rising sea levels and a growing global population. Oryza coarctata, a halo...
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