SHANGHAI (ANTARA) – Chinese scientists discovered two genes in rice that can make the staple food crop more heat-resistant so that the plant is not easily damaged by heat.
A joint team of researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Shanghai Jiao Tong University revealed a mechanism by which rice cell membranes sense external heat stress signals before communicating with chloroplasts.
Chloroplasts are organs where photosynthesis takes place to regulate heat tolerance.
Too high a heat can damage plant chloroplasts. When the temperature exceeds the plant’s usual tolerance, yields tend to decrease.
The researchers identified loci with two genes, Thermo-tolerance 3.1 (TT3.1) and Thermo-tolerance 3.2 (TT3.2). The two interact together to increase the thermotolerance of rice and reduce grain yield losses caused by heat stress.
The researchers found that TT3.2 accumulation could trigger heat stress-related chloroplast damage, but, in that scenario, TT3.1 could serve as a remedy.
After heat stress, TT3.1, a potential thermosensor, will remove the cell membrane from the cell to degrade the mature TT3.2 protein, said the study, published Friday (17/6) in the journal Science.
“This study elucidates a novel molecular mechanism linking plant cell membranes with chloroplasts in response to warming signals,” said one of the paper’s correspondent authors, Lin Hongxuan, of the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology.
Then, the researchers used hybridization to transfer the TT3 locus of African rice into Asian species.
Field tests have shown that the new species is more heat tolerant. The species can withstand heat at temperatures of 38 degrees Celsius without crop failure, while yields of normal species will decrease at temperatures above 35 degrees Celsius, the researchers said.
The newly discovered gene also has the potential to be used in other crops, including wheat, corn, beans and vegetables, to grow heat-resistant strains, the researchers said.
Reporter: Xinhua
Editor: And Salim
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