New Scientist News - Waterproof rice can outlast the floods

New Scientist News - Waterproof rice can outlast the floods:

"Now researchers have tracked down a gene in an old variety of rice largely abandoned by farmers that allows the plant to survive complete submersion. They say it could be the first lost gene of a series to be introduced into modern rice varieties to make rice more resilient to environmental hazards.

David Mackill of the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines and colleagues used genetic techniques to identify the 'submergence gene' in a forgotten old Indian rice variety, known as FR13A, stored at the institute's labs. They then introduced the gene into a modern variety of rice, M202, which is widely grown in the US. The new version could survive total submersion for up to two weeks - twice as long as before (Nature, vol 442, p 705)."