THE sequencing of the rice genome, completed last year by the International Rice Genome Sequencing Project (IRGSP), will help researchers pinpoint the genes that govern drought tolerance, not just in rice, but in other key crops.
In December, Japan's National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences (NIAS), the leader of the IRGSP, launched a five-year collaboration with IRRI to unlock the secrets of rice gene functionality, with particular attention to tolerance for stresses such as drought.