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Why are you investigating the wild relatives of domesticated rice?
The wild varieties are closely related to domesticated rice, and the samples we collect will provide an invaluable source of tolerance to a range of environmental stresses, from drought to salt to heat. These traits will be important in producing climate-resilient crops for the future.

Why search in Australia rather than Asia?
In Asia, rice has been farmed for 7000 years or more, and wild populations have been overwhelmed by interbreeding with domesticated rice. The wild populations in Australia鈥檚 remote areas are not genetically polluted by agriculture, so I recently led an expedition to the tropical Cape York Peninsula in northern Australia.

One disease, rice blast, is currently damaging plants in Asia. Some of our Australian populations have been exposed to this fungus for thousands of years in the wild, and we expect that they have developed a certain natural resistance to it that we can capture for agriculture.

Where were these plants growing?
The rice grows in water up to a metre deep. We had to be especially cautious entering the lagoons, waterholes, lakes and swamps that contain the rice because they鈥檙e also the habitat of saltwater crocodiles.

In breeding new rice varieties, will crop scientists be using genetic modification?
There鈥檚 no need. By using advanced DNA-analysis tools we can determine which individuals have inherited the genes that we are interested in and they can be cross-bred with modern varieties. DNA sequencing is advancing so fast. Our capabilities actually double every six months or so 鈥� it鈥檚 extraordinary. We鈥檙e scrambling to apply these advances to agriculture around the world.

What do you think of keeping banks of seeds to insure against wild plants dying out?
Collecting material and putting it into seed banks is good, but we effectively stop evolution when we do that. By keeping the plants in the wild, they will continue to evolve with climate change. That鈥檚 why it is vital to preserve ecosystems. We鈥檙e allowing natural selection to take us in some of the directions we need to go as the climate shifts.

Can the wild varieties you are collecting be used to improve the nutrition of rice?
Farmers tend to grow rice that cooks more quickly. In fact, we would probably be better off eating rice that might take a little longer to cook, that has a lower glycaemic index and so is less likely to induce diabetes and contribute to obesity. There鈥檚 variation in the wild that could enhance rice from a health perspective.

What keeps you excited about your work?
In wheat, we鈥檝e recently discovered genes that control bread quality, how much the bread rises and how much flour we鈥檒l get out of the grain. We鈥檝e found the gene for fragrance in rice 鈥� so important in basmati rice. We鈥檝e even identified genes controlling how long it takes to cook.

(Image: QAAFI)

This article appeared in print under the headline 鈥淎ustralian rice to the rescue鈥�