AI Insight
Scientists from Japanese research institutions and the International Rice Research Institute have identified a gene called EMF3 (Early Morning Flowering 3) that causes rice plants to flower approximately 1.5 hours earlier in the day. This genetic shift moves the flowering period to cooler early morning hours, allowing rice to avoid heat stress during its most temperature-sensitive reproductive stage. The discovery could help protect rice yields in tropical and subtropical regions facing increasing temperatures due to climate change and El Niño events.
Why it matters
Rice is a staple food for billions of people, and heat stress during flowering significantly reduces grain formation and crop yields. This gene could be used in breeding programs to develop heat-tolerant rice varieties that maintain productivity despite rising global temperatures and more frequent heat waves.
Understand the Science
With El Niño-driven heat and prolonged dry spells threatening rice production, scientists from Japan’s National Agriculture and Food Research Organization (NARO), other Japanese research institutions and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) have discovered a gene that helps rice “escape” heat during its most sensitive flowering stage. The gene, called EMF3 (Early Morning Flowering 3), shifts rice flowering to the early morning, when temperatures are cooler. By flowering earlier in the day, rice can avoid heat stress that would otherwise reduce grain formation and lower yields in tropical and subtropical regions. The research is published in the Plant Biotechnology Journal.
Source: Newfound rice gene shifts flowering by 1.5 hours to dodge heat damage