166 Rice Genetics Newsletter 13 ( 1996)

Eight sessions including 32 oral and 50 poster presentations were held. These sessions were well organized to report current progress on genome researches and molecular biology of rice.

Progress on genome research in Japan was reported by Dr. T. Sasaki. 2300 DNA markers have been established as land markers and 5100 of 7000 clones in YAC library have been already assigned in the linkage map. They are now used as essential resources to tag and clone genes of economical importance. Genome researches in Taiwan was reported by Dr. G.F. Hong on BAC library which is almost seven times of rice genome, and by Dr. H-K. Wu on cDNA analysis with library of early embryogenesis related genes. Gene tagging research was focused on brown plant hopper resistance genes.

Dynamics of nuclear and organelle genomes was also reported by several scientists concerning some aspects including transfer of genetic materials and distinct regulation system from each genome.

Topics of gene expressions were focused on genes for early embryogenesis and for developmental regulation. However, homology researches without mutants of the genes would give us some questions about how they work in different species and whether they are really related to each homologue.

Presentations on producing transgenic plants gave strong impression that these methods have been already established. The topics of transgenic plants would be moved to the kinds of new function to be expected and control mechanisms of their expressions in respective cases. Transgenic plants carrying heterologous stress resistance genes and transposons to establish gene tagging system in rice, were reported. As for transposon system in rice, evidence of endogenous elements in rice genome was also reported. This problem will be of great importance when tagging system would be constructed by using heterologous element from other plant species.

Informatics was one of the major subjects in this symposium. It will become an important field, because thousands of genes will be identified and thousands of genetic informations will be accumulated in few years and both should be integrated to know the nature of genome.

The 6th meeting will be held in 1998 at Hangzhou in China and tentatively the place of the 7th meeting was proposed to be held in USA during 2001, one year after the 4th International Rice Genetics Symposium. According to my personal opinion, more

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discussions and more presentations related to the overlapping field between genetics and molecular biology would be necessary to establish rice plant as a model plant for molecular biology based on genetic information. (Ryuji Ishikawa)

II. Upcoming Meetings

168 Rice Genetics Newsletter Vol. 13

This series of publications is an English translation of the Japanese book, entitled Inagaku Taisei, which contains comprehensive reviews on rice researches conducted in the world during a period of the last over 100 years. The original book was written by 170 researchers in Japan, who were requested to review not only their own researches but also a wide range of reports presented in domestic and overseas literature. It was edited by Dr. Takane Matsuo, Emer. Prof. the University of Tokyo, Japan, and several rice scientists. The Japanese version, which was published by Nobunkyo, Tokyo in 1990, consists of three volumes. However, the English version contains an additional volume, which deals with item indices covering the entire volumes.

Volume One, Morphology, edited by the late Dr. K. Hoshikawa and his colleagues, consists of six parts, describing in full detail the most recent findings from morphological studies of vegetative and reproductive organs of the rice plant. It outlines morphological features of the plant growth at plant and tissue levels as well as at cellular, callus and protoplast levels. Morphological changes induced by varying environments are another subject, on which the authors place great emphasis in this volume. Comprehensive reviews on the classification of plants in Genus Oryza, including wild species and cultivated rice, are also presented at its initial section as an introductory note for morphological approach to rice plants.

Volume Two, Physiology, edited by Dr. K. Kumazawa and his colleagues, comprises a wide range of physiological research fields from very basic subjects to practical issues. Physiological mechanisms of dry matter production in the rice plant are central issues, which are elaborated by detailed reviews on component subjects, such as internal mechanisms of growth regulation and differentiation, photosynthesis and respiration, accumulation of carbohydrates and dry matter production in individual leaves and plant populations. Physiology of high-yielding rice plants is also discussed in detail.

Physiological basis of damage caused by various factors, including unfavorable climate conditions, soil and water stress, diseases and insect pests, lodging and toxicity of pesticides are extensively reviewed in Volume Two. The achievements of research efforts relating to physiological disorders and countermeasures for alleviating injurious effects, such as akiochi, akagare, aogare and straight head, are also discussed in detail.

Volume Three, Genetics, edited by Dr. Y. Futsuhara and his colleagues, starts with reviews on the phylogenetic relationship of rice in the genus Oryza and the mechanism of its differentiation and adaptation. Molecular genetic analyses, which are explained in this volume, may be one of the effective approaches to identify the origin of rice. In

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addition to full reviews on the mode of inheritance of agronomic characters and the character expression, very basic subjects such as gene and karyotype analyses are also outlined.

In view of the significant advances in molecular biology achieved in recent years, Volume Three contains the latest (until 1995) information on biotechnology, which were not referred to in the original Japanese version. Tissue culture, cell fusion, recombinant DNA and RFLP analyses are major subjects which have been revised in the English version. More specifically, the new chromosome numbering system, which was approved at the Second International Rice Genetics Symposium in 1990, has been introduced into the major section of this volume. The numbering of linkage groups and trisomic groups according to the newly adopted system is presented. Much emphasis is also laid on the developmental genetic analyses on induced morphological and physiological mutations. The current status of researches concerning haploid, polyploid and hybrid rice plants and the significance of their practical application is elaborated.

The contents of these books are comprehensive and highly specific in respective subjects reviewed in each volume and chapter. Therefore, special attempts are made in editing this book: graphic designs and electron microscopic photographs are inserted, as deemed necessary and appropriate, particularly in Volume One, Morphology. With a view to supplying readers with practical knowledge on rice studies, the descriptions in the reviews, especially on physiological studies, refer not only to research results obtained but also to experimental methodologies and techniques adopted. It is expected that the research achievements presented in these volumes would provide a milestone from which

"Science of the Rice Plant" has been published, under commission from the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, by: Food and Agriculture Policy Research Center (FAPRC) Yushima Tokyu Bldg. 37-4 Yushima 3-chome, Bunkyoku, Tokyo, 113 Japan. Tel. 03-3839-6802, Fax. 03-3839-6803.

The FAPRC is a nonprofit institution, which was established in 1971, with an objective of contributing toward better communication between Japan and other countries in the field of food and agricultural sectors.

In an effort to contribute to the development of rice science and technology worldwide, the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries has donated a set of the above volumes to major rice research and development institutions, including national and international research centers and universities located in rice producing countries. Interested persons may find it at the libraries of those institutions. In addition, copies of this book are available for purchase at the following distributor in Tokyo:

170 Rice Genetics Newsletter Vol. 13

ISBN number and book price (net): Volume One, Morphology:

(Reviewed by Shiro Okabe, FAPRC)