Chinese scientists breed rice that resists disease without yield loss

CGTN Chinese researchers have made a breakthrough for global food security by breeding a new strain of rice that resists disease without sacrificing yield. In recent years, rice bacterial blight has resurged due to global warming and limited resistance sources, threatening stable rice production. To tackle this, a team led by He Zuhua from the Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Zhejiang University, and Shanghai Normal University, successfully cloned a broad-spectrum disease-resistance gene, Xa48, and clarified how rice resistance evolves over long-term cultivation. The study was published on Wednesday in the journal Nature. Bacterial blight can reduce rice yields by 20-50%. Traditionally, indica rice grown in southern China is more resistant, while northern japonica rice is highly susceptible, yet, until now, the genetic reasons remained unclear. By screening thousands of rice ...