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| News Around World |
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| Gene That May Contribute To Improved Rice Yield Identified |
A gene in rice has been identified that would potentially be able to increase rice yield to its expression. The GIF1 gene, identified by a team of scientists including Penn State Distinguished Professor of Biology, Hong Ma, would prove be useful for the benefit of the vast number of people. The gene controls the activity of the enzyme invertase, which is located in the cell wall to convert sucrose to substances that are used to create starch. Transgenic lines of the rice in which the GIF1 gene is overexpressed showed larger and heavier grains compared to normal strains. |
| A new tool in investigating the rice genome has been developed by researchers at UC Davis led Pamela Ronald, professor of plant pathology, which is a inexpensive microarray covering nearly all 45,000 genes in the rice genome. Methods and the array developed would aid researchers in identifying the function of the 45,000 rice genes which only a few have been characterised. A web-based program has also been developed to allow the user to compare gene expression profiles across multiple rice microarray platform, which will further accelerate this research. |
| Despite having falled from the headlines, avian flu still has US researchers on their toes as the only vaccines that have proven even semi-effective are produced in chicken eggs. These vaccines would take 5-6 months to prepare, which is insufficient time to deal with a single variant of the H5N1 virus which mutates quickly. Research by scientists in New York and Taiwan have found vaccines which are easier to produce and modify rapidly, giving it a critical advantage in a race to prevent the epidemic. |
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