Enlarging the existing regional partnership to one of the major european rice research teams, and buildingon improved germplasm developed in the framwork of previous regional projects, the present proposal aimsat developping new “climate-proof rice vaieties” for the irrigated and rainfed lowland ecosystems of Laosand Thailand. The expected outcome is an enhanced adaptive capacity of rice farmers of the target regionsto climate risks.The varietal improvement process will call on the most advanced knowledge on the genetic bases of climate-change related traits such as high temperatures (that cause yield losses due to rice flowers’ sterility), onproven methods of marker-assisted selection and on a state of the art breeding data-management system. Italso relies on complementary experimental facilities (for instance field and greenhouse phenotyping facilitiesin NAFRI/BIOTEC, respectively, growth chamber facility mimicking high temperature at CIRAD, molecularmarker lab at BIOTEC) and skills of the three research team.Including several training workshops and training by research component, the project will strongly contributeto the empowerment of the less advanced partner and to the achievement of the networking objectives of thethree partners

Thailand

Natural Rubber (NR), a biopolymer produced from the latex of Hevea brasiliensis, exhibits very specific properties never mimicked by synthetic rubbers. NR is thus a highly strategic material for the production of tires or others items. However, NR presents important drawbacks: i) the rather non consistency or variability of its properties, ii) a structuration dynamics or “storage hardening” that is still not fully understood. The RUBBex project aims to study and identify the main biochemical components (poly(cis-1,4-isoprene), proteins and lipids) and the mechanisms involved in the structuration of NR in order to optimize the performances of raw NR. The main objective of the RUBBex project is to generate new knowledge that will allow targeting new treatments before processing for a better control of the variability of NR properties and of the NR structuration dynamics with time. A multidisciplinary and biomimetic approach will allow the study of this material from fresh rubber particles (organization, composition) to the raw NR (composition, structures, properties). The achievement of this multidisciplinary project relies on the complementarity of 6 partners (3 French academic laboratories, Michelin Company and 2 Thai academic laboratories). They will share their expertise in analytical chemistry, macromolecular chemistry, structural characterization, properties of materials, biochemistry, biophysics and spectroscopies.

Rice is a mainstay of global food security. Drought stress is a primary limitation to rice yields and is projected to worsen in the future due to the effects of global climate change. The development of rice cultivars with better drought tolerance is therefore an important strategic goal for global food security. This project addresses this need by developing Rhizo-rice, new rice lines that have root traits that permit them to have both improved soil exploration and more efficient water capture under drought conditions. Rhizo-rice lines will have 1) steeper root growth angles, 2) fewer major roots, 3) greater root branching in deep soil, 4) increased formation of root air spaces (aerenchyma), which reduces the cost of root tissue, and 5) smaller water conductance vessels (xylem), which forces the plant to use soil water more sparingly. It is hypothesized that these traits will have much more value in combination than would be predicted from their isolated effects. This project will evaluate the benefits of Rhizo-rice lines in the field and computer simulation modelling and will discover genetic elements controlling Rhizo-rice root traits. Furthermore, we will evaluate these root traits in rice breeding lines in use in Thailand and will train Thai scientists in methods to incorporate root traits in rice breeding programs. This project integrates leading rice researchers and breeders in Thailand, leading crop physiologists in the UK and at the International Rice Research Institute in the Philippines, and leading root modelers in the UK. We will investigate how different root architectures and drought conditions affect rice growth by measuring features of the root system in rice plants grown in different conditions. By recording the number, length and angle of different types of roots and taking microscopy images of the root structures, we will test how these features affect drought tolerance. These measurements will be complemented by computational modelling, which will enable us to test many different root structures and drought conditions. We have previously developed computational models to simulate root growth in maize, barley, common bean, lupin and squash. We will adapt these models to simulate rice root growth, which will enable us to predict the best type of root growth to maximise water uptake in drought conditions. Finally, we will determine which genes are responsible for creating the desirable root structures. We will use recently developed techniques to analyse the genes and root structures in many different varieties of rice, which will enable us to identify suitable varieties for maximising drought tolerance. This project will generate several tools to facilitate the breeding of more drought tolerant rice lines. It will validate specific root traits as selection targets in rice breeding; will discover genetic markers for these traits; will identify sources for desirable root traits in rice germplasm, and will enhance the ability of Thai scientists to create a team for breeding rice lines with superior root traits.