Japan: Creating iron-rich rice varieties with high productivity

(Artwork: nicolas.delerue.org) According to the US PNAS magazine, Japanese researchers have succeeded in creating an iron-rich rice variety by adding an enzyme and increasing the yield of plants through planting. on lime soil.

Iron is known to be essential for life and plants often apply different strategies to absorb this substance from the soil.

Rice usually does not effectively absorb iron, especially in areas where water is lacking in iron in the form of insoluble oxidation. Common seedless plants use reductase enzymes that reduce iron in plant roots, making it soluble in water for easy transport.

Dr. Y. Ishimaru and colleagues have taken the initiative to put reductase into rice plants and make this enzyme work effectively by growing in a low acid environment, characteristic of lime areas. This enzyme helps plants absorb iron more quickly, grow well and reach high yields 8 times when grown in lime soil.

Rice, the primary staple food crop for half of the world's population, is the target of many in-depth studies aimed at improving productivity at a time when land and water resources are dwindling due to urban phenomenon urbanization and industrialization, especially in Asian countries.

WITH