Rice is arguably the world's most important staple crop. About half of the global population depends on it for sustenance. But, like other staples such as wheat and corn, rice is cultivated annually.

She inhaled the plant’s earthy scent and listened as its leaves rustled. “I was thinking about how much wild rice has declined and been lost from so many places,” Ng, who studies hydrology ...

But that built-in immunity can be further boosted when the rice plant receives a receptor protein from a completely different plant species, suggests a new study led by UC Davis plant-disease experts.

Rice stems lengthen when a newly identified gene activates during flooding. Another gene suppresses lengthening in shorter varieties. The insight could help plant breeders. Scientists at Nagoya ...