Acidity is released in high amounts when pyrite-bearing sediments in the coastal plains of Malaysia are drained for development, either agriculture or otherwise. The soils formed from these materials are called acid sulphate soils, which are characterized by low pH and high exchangeable Al that adversely affect plant growth. A study was conducted with the objective of increasing rice yields on ...

Plant architecture, a complex of the important agronomic traits that determine grain yield, is a primary target of artificial selection of rice domestication and improvement. Some important genes affecting plant architecture and grain yield have been isolated and characterized in recent decades; however, their underlying mechanism remains to be elucidated. Here, we report genetic identification...

Bacillus thuringiensis insecticidal toxin (Bt) rice will be commercialized as a main food source. Traditional safety assessments on genetically modified products pay little attention on gastrointestinal (GI) health. More data about GI health of Bt rice must be provided to dispel public' doubts about the potential effects on human health. We constructed an improved safety assessment animal model...

Various vaccine therapies for Alzheimer's disease (AD) have been investigated. Here we report transgenic rice expressing amyloid β-peptide (Aβ). The Aβ42 gene fused with a green fluorescent protein gene was introduced into rice using the Agrobacterium method. When transgenic brown rice expressing Aβ was orally administered to mice, serum anti-Aβ antibody titers were elevated. The same results w...

Rice bran (RB) is a major by-product, produced from the rice milling process. This study was conducted to evaluate the performance, egg quality, and blood biochemical parameters of 288 Hy-line laying hens fed diets with rice bran and commercial microbial phytase Natuphos®5000. The experiment was a 4×2 factorial one with four RB levels (0, 5, 10, and 15%) by two phytase levels (0 and 5000 FTU/kg...

China imports most of its potassium (K) requirements for crop production. The objective of this study was to evaluate indica rice hybrids for Kuse efficiency. Twenty-eight indica rice hybrids were evaluated in nutrient solution. The K influx rate was greatest in genotype Weiyou 64 (684.9 nmol K plant h) and least in genotype Xie A/909 (457.2 nmol K plant h). The K-use efficiency was greatest in...

Hirschmanniella oryzae is the most common plant-parasitic nematode in flooded rice cultivation systems. These migratory animals penetrate the plant roots and feed on the root cells, creating large cavities, extensive root necrosis and rotting. The objective of this study was to investigate the systemic response of the rice plant upon root infection by this nematode. RNA sequencing was applied o...

Brassinosteroid (BR) and gibberellin (GA) are two groups of plant growth regulators essential for normal plant growth and development. To gain insight into the molecular mechanism by which BR and GA regulate the growth and development of plants, especially the monocot plant rice, it is necessary to identify and analyze more genes and proteins that are regulated by them. With the availability of...

Upland rice (Oryza sativa L.) is mainly grown in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Yield potential of upland rice is quite low and invariably this crop is subjected to many environmental stresses. Further, when upland rice is grown in monoculture for more than two to three years on the same land, allelopathy or autotoxicity is frequently reported. Allelopathy involves complex plant and plant chem...

Plant associations by bradyrhizobia have been detected not only in leguminous plants, but also in non-leguminous species including rice. Bradyrhizobium sp. SUTN9-2 was isolated from Aeschynomene americana L., which is a leguminous weed found in the rice fields of Thailand. This strain promoted the highest total rice (Oryza sativa L. cultivar Pathum Thani 1) dry weight among the endophytic brady...