Bio Briefs

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Matt Nelson

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Jul 13, 2009
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NSF awards UA $1.5M to sequence West African rice strain

Tags: bioagriculture, genomics, university of arizona

[Source: University of Arizona Communications] - A $1.5 million grant from the National Science Foundation will allow University of Arizona researchers to unlock the genetic code of West African cultivated rice – and along the way to gain knowledge that could help commercial rice strains to better withstand dwindling resources, a changing climate and increased demand.

BIO5 Institute members Rod A. Wing, who holds the Bud Antle Endowed Chair for Excellence in Agriculture and Life Sciences, and Steve Rounsley, research professor of plant sciences, are co-primary investigators on the new grant. Wing previously took part in a six-year, $200 million project to sequence the genome of Asian cultivated rice.

For more information: Researchers to Sequence West African Rice Strain