Manila, The Philippines
September 19, 2007
BusinessMirror
via SEAMEO SEARCA
By Carlos D. Marquez Jr. Correspondent
A new rice variety, developed by a leading rice-research agency
in Asia, for flooded, low-lying fields promises not only of
enduring flood water but also of resisting the three known most
dreaded rice pests—bacterial blast, tungro and stemborer.
The scientists involved in breeding the new Tubigan 7
rice variety used the DNA marker-aided selection (MAS) technique
in identifying the genes for each desired traits of submergence
tolerance and resistance to pests.
"Instead of the usual laboratory tests, the breeders took pains
in identifying the genes to come out with the target
characteristics of the variety," said Dr. Antonio Alfonso, head
of plant breeding and biotechnology division of the
Philippine Rice Research
Institute (PhilRice) in Muñoz Science City in Nueva Ecija,
which initiated the development of Tubigan 7.
Alfonso emphasized, however, that Tubigan 7 is not a genetically
modified rice. "These [genes involved] are not transgenic.
Source of genes were still rice and [the method was] made
through conventional breeding," he said.
Tubigan 7, which means "flooded," in the vernacular, is an elite
line with IR64 background. It also has fertility restorer trait
and could yield about 8 tons per hectare during the dry season
cropping and 5 to 6 tons per hectare during the wet season, 15
percent higher than the conventional harvest record in the
Philippines.
PhilRice said Tubigan 7 is "the first-ever successful DNA-MAS
product in the Philippine rice breeding."
This is also the second locally developed biotechnology rice,
the first being the tissue culture-derived variety of improved
traditional wagwag, Antonio said.
PhilRice completed the Tubigan 7 breeding process in June 2006
after nearly a decade of testing series, and recently the
Philippine National Seed Industry Council (NSIC) officially
released it as a variety.
The scientists involved in the project—Rolando Tabien, Marilou
Abalos, Maricar Fernando, Emily Corpuz, Yolanda Dimaano, Gloria
Osoteo, Rolando San Gabriel, Dindo Tabanan, Herminia Rapusas,
Juliet Rillon and Leocadio Sebastian—cross-combined 103 genes
with BB-, tungro-, and stemborer-resistance traits, as well as
earliness genes during the dry season.
After they made additional crosses during the wet season—14 of
them were for tungro-resistance and five for BB-resistance.
Alfonso explained that to come out with the flood-tolerant gene,
the scientists applied the DNA-MAS crop breeding technique,
which is direct extraction of DNA from each plant in the test
field to determine which of the plant is resistant and which is
susceptible to bacterial blight instead of the usual laboratory
test.
Other news
from the
Philippine Rice Research Institute |
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