WSU is part of an international effort to revolutionize rice production. The “C4 Rice Project,” co-led by Asaph Cousins, WSU professor of biological sciences, recently earned a five‑year, $15 million grant renewal from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Currently, more than 3 billion people depend upon rice for survival, and trends in population growth and land use mean there will be greater demand for rice and less space to grow it on: the same area of land that provided enough rice to feed 27 people in 2010 will need to support 43 by 2050.
The project, which involves seven institutions, aims to develop rice strains that are not only more productive but also more resilient. The long‑term effort, which was first conceived in the 1990s, earned its first Gates Foundation grant in 2008 and is now entering its fourth phase.
“We have learned a lot about the molecular biology, physiology, leaf development and biochemistry of C4 photosynthesis during the initial phases of this project, and it’s exciting that we have received additional support to implement this knowledge to enhance photosynthesis in rice,” said Asaphs, co‑principal investigator for the project, which is institutionally led by the University of Oxford.
Currently, rice uses the C3 photosynthetic pathway to convert light, carbon dioxide and water into energy, but the C4 pathway, which is used by crops such as maize and sorghum, is more efficient and productive even in higher temperatures and drought conditions. Both the C3 and C4 pathways are named for the type of carbon molecules that result from their respective photosynthetic processes.
The C4 pathway has evolved more than 60 times independently in plants. The C4 Rice Project aims to develop rice that uses this pathway to improve yield and endure harsher environmental conditions.