A kind of deepwater rice is now ready for experiments

Prof. Moto and his lab members at Nagoya University have previously produced a near-isogenic-line of rice where a locus coding for stem elongation in deepwater rice has been introgressed in T65 which is a Taiwanese paddy rice. Prof. Sauter‘s lab in Kiel has worked with rice for decades and also with this exciting Chimeran rice some time. Prof. Sauter and I recently decided to join our research effort by conduction some measurements that are better done here in Copenhagen.

Dr Chen Lin in Sauter’s lab has grown a number of plants for us and we recently went to Germany to pick these up after the borders had reopened between Denmark and Germany. The plants are huge (I am used to work with 3-4-week-old plants but these are 3-4-month-old) and they are taking up a lot of space in our constant temperature rooms. Nevertheless, they have the right size for these experiments. Lucas has submerged the first pot and numerous aquatic adventitious roots have already emerged from the nodes over the weekend.

Lucas  will be measuring radial oxygen profiles from the two types of aquatic adventitious roots (stems roots that do not reach the soil surface but hang freely in the floodwater). He will also measure respiration and conduct a set of “secret experiments” that we cannot reveal on the internet before the manuscript is complete and has been submitted to a relevant journal. We will keep you posted about the progress of these exciting measurements…