Chinese researchers may have found a way to cross Asian and African rice

Asian and African rice have different strengths, but attempts to cross them often produce sterile pollen and poor yields. Chinese researchers say they have now identified three genes responsible for blocking reproduction between the two cultivated species, along with a possible way around the barrier.

The study was led by Wan Jianmin at the State Key Laboratory for Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement and Utilisation at Nanjing Agricultural University. It was published in the peer-reviewed journal Science on Aug. 28.

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Could potentially increase yields by more than 10 per cent compared with existing Asian hybrid rice varieties.

The work could give breeders a route toward new Asian-African hybrids. The official China Science Daily quoted one of the study’s authors as saying the crosses “could potentially increase yields by more than 10 per cent compared with existing Asian hybrid rice varieties.”

The researchers described the discovery as a theoretical foundation and a source of genetic material for breaking the reproductive barrier. Asian rice already provides high yields and good eating quality, while both Asian and African cultivated rice are among the only two domesticated food-producing species in the 24-species Oryza genus. The proposed hybrids would draw on the distinct strengths of both varieties.

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This discovery provides an important theoretical foundation and valuable genetic resources for breaking the reproductive barrier between rice species and breeding new, ultra-high-yielding hybrid rice varieties.