About 10,000 years ago, man started a long journey with the rice plant, which has since become one of the most important food crops in the world. However, as with a lot of domesticated crops, hybridization and human choice reduced the genetic diversity of rice, making it less able to face environmental challenges such as dehydration, salinity and high temperatures.
In the face of these challenges, a research team from King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (Kaost) in Saudi Arabia – in cooperation with the Dutch University of Fakhnengin – planted the seeds of hope to return to the roots of rice from its land relatives who have evolved in harsh desert environments and salty water for 15 million years, and they kept a rich and powerful genetic formula carrying the key to developing rice varieties that bear difficult conditions.
But the story not only stops at rice. In the same context, the researchers study the potential of the miswak tree, that amazing desert plant that bears salinity and dehydration, and produces fruits rich in nutrients that resemble blue berries, but they are not the same sweetness, and can be planted using salty water in the desert, which opens new horizons for sustainable agriculture in arid areas.
Discovering “jumping genes”
Initially, the scientists – the leadership of Professor Rod Wing, from the Department of Science and Biological and Environmental Engineering of (KAAST) and the leader of the rice genome at the Arizona Institute of Genome – began studying the genome of 11 species of wild rice, including 9 quad -chromosome types (i.e. containing 4 copies of each chromosome) and two of the chromosome diodes.
Through an accurate analysis of the DNA sequence, they announced in study It was published in the “Nature Genks” patrol that there are large parts of the genotans of these plants that change quickly and convert continuously, driven by genetic elements called “jungle genes” that contribute to finding tremendous genetic diversity.
The researchers found that the gynic nucleus of wild rice types shares in many aspects, but there are other parts of the genome very variable, which gives these plants the ability to adapt to harsh environmental conditions such as high heat, salinity and dryness. This is the key to wild rice in the face of the current climate challenges, as the divine power granted it to develop resistance genes over millions of years, which was a test of survival.
“There are many genes that have been discovered in wild rice” help in resisting harsh environmental conditions such as dryness and salinity. Among these genes, the gene (R or 1) is one of the most famous, as it contributes to making the roots of rice grow deeply inside the soil, which helps the plant to reach the groundwater and thus increases its tolerance to dehydration. “
He added, “The gene (DR or 1) has already been combined with rice breeding programs, and these programs are mainly active in the Southeast Asian region, but they are also underway in other regions such as Africa, South America and the United States. The next steps will be to discover more resistance genes and integrate them into cultivated rice varieties to increase their ability to resist heat, salinity and drought.”
Saline water rice
The team is currently working on a wild type of rice called “Oriza Quarkata”, which is a rare plant that grows naturally in salt water, and the idea is “domestication” (i.e. converting it into a regularly implanted type) using genetic information extracted from the currently implanted rice, which will allow the cultivation of rice in places that suffer from fresh water, such as some areas of the Gulf and North Africa, and contributes to securing local food without relying on Import.
The use of “Oriza Kuquarta” needs to address one of its most prominent problems, which is “automatic seeds” that occur due to the separation or fall of grains or seeds from the plant before the harvest as a result of the cover of the cover or the spike automatically when ripening, and this is a natural feature in the wild plants that helps spread seeds and multiplication, but in agriculture it is considered an unwanted phenomenon because it leads to the loss of the crop before collecting it, It reduces production.
“We are working to modify this genetically, as happened with other types of cultivated rice, which underwent human election to reduce or remove this phenomenon, so as not to lose grains before the harvest,” said Professor Wing.
Micok future agricultural crop
After his success and colleagues in dismantling the secrets of the genetic diversity of wild rice, they decided to benefit from what they learned with an authentic Arabic plant as long as it is associated with hygiene and traditions, which is the miswak tree.
“I love it to be called the Saudi toothbrush, but it is not just a tool for mouth care, it is a magic plant in every sense of the word,” says Wing.
He explains how this desert tree has an amazing ability to withstand in the face of harsh environmental conditions, as its deep roots help to stabilize the soil and prevent desertification, and it can grow using salty water, which is a rare feature in the world of plants, and the most wonderful is that it produces fruits that resemble blue berries.
But ambition does not stop at the limits of agriculture, as the research team in the “Kaost” works to domesticate this plant using genome science, which is the same technique that they used to decipher the genetic diversity of rice and its land relatives, with the aim of converting the miswak from a traditional tree into a future agricultural crop grown in the desert, watered with sea water, and thus reduces the environmental impact of shipping it through the hemisphere to the Middle East markets.
“Domestication of local plants adaptive to harsh environments is the future in dry areas. We want to produce food, medicines and fibers in our environment, without relying on the outside,” he added.
A qualitative shift in agricultural science
For his part, Dr. Tariq Kabil, a professor of biotechnology at Cairo University, praises the new genetic discovery carried out by the Kaost team, stressing that the results of the rice study represent a qualitative shift in agricultural and food science.
“For the first time, we get a full genetic map for the development of rice over a period of 15 million years, and this disclosure not only illuminates the history of the evolutionary rice, but also provides real tools for the future, to counter climate change, the scarcity of water, and the decline in the cultivation of cultivation,” Qabil told Al -Jazeera Net.
He explains that what researchers in the field of rice represents a model that can be repeated with other plants such as miswak, and other major food crops that suffer from genetic poverty, such as wheat and corn.
Dr. Kabil notes ethical and cultural challenges related to the use of genetic editing techniques in agriculture, as modified crops may face resistance to Arab societies, due to the concerns it raises about the “genes tampering” and the impact of this on the “nature” of plants.
It indicates that the transfer of genes from wild species to cultivated crops may raise questions about food safety, with consumers’ fear of unknown effects of these genes on human health. And he stresses the need to apply strict and completely transparent tests to ensure the safety of modified products, which may face organizational challenges in some Arab countries.
It also points to the existence of religious and cultural concerns, as it is sometimes viewed to modify the genome as an intervention that may conflict with traditional values and beliefs, and warns of the possibility of improved genetically improved items to wild environments through natural hybridization, which may negatively affect the original wild species and violate the environmental balance.
Justice in distribution
On the economic point of view, Dr. Kabil pointed out that the development of these varieties may be concentrated in the hands of companies or countries that have advanced technology, which may restrict the arrival of farmers – in developing regions such as North Africa – to these items due to high costs and intellectual property rights.
In this context, the Egyptian academic stresses the importance of developing moral guarantees to ensure a fair distribution of the benefits of modern technology, especially in areas that suffer from food insecurity.
Cain stresses the need to enhance transparency by involving local communities and explaining the benefits of these technologies to ensure their acceptance. It also calls for strict regulatory frameworks that protect food safety and biological diversity, and support international initiatives that seek to distribute technology fairly, including partnerships with agricultural research centers in arid regions. It is considered that the involvement of ethics and religious leaders with these discussions is a key to facilitating the acceptance of genetic amendments within the cultural and religious frameworks.