Researchers at New York University Center for Genomics and Systems Biology
have sequenced the genomes of two basmati rice varieties. The researchers
focused on two basmati rice varieties: Basmati 334 from Pakistan, known to
be drought tolerant and resistant to bacterial blight, and Dom Sufid from
Iran, an aromatic long-grain rice that is one of the most expensive on the
market.



Basmati is an aromatic long-grain rice grown in southern Asia. Despite its
economic and cultural importance, their evolutionary history is not fully
understood. Using nanopore sequencing technology, the researchers confirmed
that basmati rice is a hybrid of two other rice groups. Sequencing revealed
that most genetic material in basmati comes from japonica (a rice group
found in East Asia), followed by the rice group aus (found in Bangladesh).



The researchers now aim to work with breeding groups to identify important
genes, see what makes basmati rice unique, and even develop molecular
markers to help breed new varieties. "By having the sequence of rice
varieties like Basmati 334, which can withstand drought conditions and
resist bacterial blight, we can start to identify genes that give rise to
these valuable traits," said Michael Purugganan, the Silver Professor of
Biology at NYU and the study's senior author.



[genomebiology.biomedcentral.com]