Developing Rice with Increased Resistance to Salinity and Drought

Food production needs to be expanded drastically to feed an ever growing human population. Drought and saline soils are two environmental conditions that greatly depress agricultural production around the globe and it is estimated that around 20-30% of rice yield is lost in areas where these stresses are prevalent. To limit such losses, it is imperative that we develop rice varieties that are more resistant to these stresses, either through breeding or by using engineering.
Both breeding and engineering approaches require knowledge about the genes that contribute to tolerance. Not only will that help us understand the molecular mechanisms that plants use to respond to stress, the accumulation of such 'positive' genes will enhance rice resilience to drought and salinity. In this project we propose to use a technique called GWAS (genome wide association studies) to identify (new) genes and variations in genes (alleles) that are important in rice drought and salt tolerance. In contrast to previous work, we use very specific traits when we carry out GWAS to maximise our confidence that we are targeting the right genes. We will further confirm the relevance of the identified alleles by analysing their function, for example via deletion and subsequent characterisation of the 'knock out' plant. After these stringent 'quality controls' the positive alleles will be introduced into existing, high yielding varieties that are commonly grown in Vietnam and the Philippines. Introduction can be achieved via molecular breeding (crossing plants), a well established but very time consuming process. In parallel, we plan to use state of the art genetic engineering which will greatly accelerate the process which is important because there are many beneficial alleles that need to be transferred. The introduction of these modern engineering, or 'genome editing', techniques is also vital because it avoids the drawbacks of genetically modified organisms which have low public acceptance.

Food security is a serious and topical issue for both developed and developing nations. This project will implement the latest approaches to produce rice with increased tolerance to salinity and drought stress. We will transfer scientific expertise to partner countries.

Who will benefit:
Researchers in the partner countries will be trained in the UK for state of the art genetic approaches. The germplasm that will be identified and developed will benefit rice breeders and in a later phase, farmers and consumers. Both commercial and state funded breeding institutes will be involved. The project will have societal impacts because the knowledge gained has bearing on important disciplines including crop breeding and agricultural biotechnology. In the short to medium term the research will benefit rice breeders via the identification of rice varieties and molecular markers associated with tolerance and the generation of improved rice by GE. In the longer term, the research will benefit farmers by providing tailor-made, high yielding rice cultivars with improved resistance to salt and drought.

How will they benefit
Research in the partner countries will benefit by sensing researchers to the UK for training and through knowledge exchange via meetings. Researchers will furthermore benefit via dissemination of outcomes and materials through the usual channels (publications, deposit in databases and seed banks). Breeders will have access to improved germplasm and markers for current and future breeding programmes. Farmers will be able to grow rice in areas hitherto unsuitable (because of salinity) and increase yield by growing cultivars with increased tolerance. The public at large will benefit from increased food security and potentially lower prices for staples such as rice.