Project Number: 6225-21220-003-00
Project Type: Appropriated

Start Date: Sep 21, 2005
End Date: Jul 09, 2008

Objective:
Establish distributions of red rice types in the U.S., their intercrossing rates with rice, and visual and marker classes for accurate identification of resistant hybrids. Improve the long-term sustainability of weed control with reduced inputs by discovering, developing, or improving rice germplasm that suppresses barnyardgrass with minimal herbicide application. Identify the specific growth response(s) elicited by poultry litter in rice plants and determine the chemical constituents in the litter that induce these growth responses. Measure carotenoids non-destructively in single rice grains to understand the induction of carotene synthesis in rice endosperm under stress conditions of high heat and moisture.

Approach:
Distinct populations of HR (herbicide-resistant) red rice, and rice-red rice hybrids from rice fields in the southern US can be detected, identified, and managed or exploited through genetic assessment and regional distribution of red rice ecotypes, reciprocal outcrossing between rice and red rice, and hand-crossed hybrids. Identify and/or advance rice lines that have grain quality and plant types of commercial or near-commercial acceptability so that weeds may be controlled in farmer fields at reduced herbicide rates. Investigate the growth-promoting effects of poultry litter on rice beyond nutrient augmentation alone. Study how the environmental and biological stresses influence the genetic and physiological control of the induction of carotenoid synthesis that occurs during heat-stress induced PHY (a yellow discoloration) of rice grains and adapt techniques to study molecular genetic differences in milled rice.