New Rice Line Enhances Vitamin B1 Content

Rice is the staple crop for half the world's population, particularly in the tropical countries of Asia, South America and Africa.
Rice is the staple crop for half the world's population, particularly in the tropical countries of Asia, South America and Africa.
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New Rice Line Enhances Vitamin B1 Content

Rice is the staple crop for half the world's population, particularly in the tropical countries of Asia, South America and Africa.
Rice is the staple crop for half the world's population, particularly in the tropical countries of Asia, South America and Africa.

Researchers at the University of Geneva (UNIGE), in collaboration with teams at ETH Zurich and Taiwan's National Chung Hsing University (NCHU), have achieved a significant advance in the fight against vitamin B1deficiency, frequently associated with a rice-based diet.

By specifically targeting the nourishing tissues of the rice grain, the scientists have succeeded in considerably increasing its vitamin B1content, without compromising agronomic yield.

These results, to be read in the Plant Biotechnology Journal, could help solve a major public health problem in regions where rice is the staple food, the Science Daily reported.

The laboratory of Teresa Fitzpatrick, full professor in the Department of Plant Sciences at the UNIGE Faculty of Science, specializes in vitamin biosynthesis and degradation pathways in plants.

Her group, in collaboration with a team from ETH Zurich and Taiwan's NCHU, focused on improving vitamin B1 content in the endosperm of rice.

''Previous attempts at biofortification by other teams had succeeded in increasing the vitamin B1 content of the leaves and bran -- the outer layer of rice grains -- but not that of the ready-to-eat rice grain. In our study, we specifically targeted the increase in vitamin B1 content in the endosperm,'' explains Teresa Fitzpatrick, first author of the study.

The scientists generated rice lines that express a gene that sequesters vitamin B1 in a controlled manner in the endosperm tissues.

After growing in glasshouses, harvesting and polishing the rice grains, they found that the vitamin B1 content was increased in rice grains from these lines.



Sunken WWII Japanese Warship Found Off Solomon Islands

A team from the US non-profit Ocean Exploration Trust discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki. Photo: Ocean Exploration Trust
A team from the US non-profit Ocean Exploration Trust discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki. Photo: Ocean Exploration Trust
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Sunken WWII Japanese Warship Found Off Solomon Islands

A team from the US non-profit Ocean Exploration Trust discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki. Photo: Ocean Exploration Trust
A team from the US non-profit Ocean Exploration Trust discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki. Photo: Ocean Exploration Trust

An international research team has located a Japanese World War II destroyer on the deep seabed off Solomon Islands as the 80th anniversary of the war's end approaches.

A team from the US non-profit Ocean Exploration Trust discovered the Imperial Japanese Navy destroyer Teruzuki at a depth of more than 800 meters (2,625 feet) off the small island nation northeast of Australia, AFP reported.

A video image of the wreck shows parts of the 134-meter (440-foot) Teruzuki, which was torpedoed by the US military in 1942, illuminated by lights from the research team's underwater drones.

The footage shows red paint on the hull, corroded gun barrels and the warship's massive stern.

Commissioned in 1942, the Teruzuki was designed for screening aircraft carriers from aerial attacks, the exploration group said.

However, the Teruzuki, which means "Shining Moon" in Japanese, was hit by US torpedoes just months into its service.

Nine sailors were killed but most of the crew members survived, the Ocean Exploration Trust said.

Teruzuki's stern was found more than 200 meters (660 feet) from the hull and was located by high-resolution sonar scans, it said.

The discovery was made while the team used drones to survey the area in the hope of finding unidentified shipwrecks or other items.