A New Rice Biotechnology Laboratory in Treinta y Tres, Uruguay

A new facility the Regional Biotechnology Laboratory of the National Agriculture Research Institute of Uruguay (INIA) was recently launched. The facility is located in the heart of the country's main rice growing area with the research and development support from the Biotechnology Unit covering molecular biology techniques, marker-assisted selection and development of doubled haploid lines by anther culture.

Specific research studies will be on a) the incorporation of durable resistance to Pyricularia grisea by introgression of resistance genes into the elite varieties El Paso 144 and INIA Olimar, using molecular markers to identify resistant individuals in each selection cycle, b) molecular characterization of red rice hybrids resistant to imidazolinones obtained from rice fields where the Clearfield® production system was used and c) obtaining doubled-haploids lines from parentals with valuable traits, significantly speeding up the time required to obtain fixed lines.

The original article can be viewed at http://km.fao.org/gipb/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1269%3A2010-06-a-new-rice-biotechnology-laboratory-in-treinta-y-tres-uruguay&catid=27%3Acurrent-news&Itemid=362&lang=en for additional information.