Researchers look for useful genes in uncultivated rice varieties

A team of researchers at the Division of Crop Improvement, National Rice Research Institute at Cuttack have performed genetic analysis of wild or uncultivated rice found in Eastern India, to identify regions that give unique properties to these rice and which can be exploited to produce better varieties for enhanced productivity.

 

Researchers studied two uncultivated varieties of rice, Oryza rufipogon and Oryza nivara from West Bengal and Odisha that could be important source of beneficial genes for rice breeding and crop improvement. Both these varieties are close relatives of Asian cultivated rice yet with very different and unique properties.

 

The team has identified a total of 30 rare variants of genes in these rice varieties with majority of new variants in O. rufipogon as compared to O. nivara. In one of the varieties, they have identified regions associated with drought tolerance which could be quite beneficial in crop improvement programmes.