Rice genomics moves ahead

Rice is one of the pillars of world-wide food security. Improvement in its yield is necessary to mitigate hunger of millions of people who depend on rice as a staple. Decoding rice genome sequence is expected to complement efforts being made to improve rice and its yield. The information about more than 32,000 genes, regulatory elements, repeat DNA, and DNA markers opens-up new horizons for molecular analysis and genetic enhancement not only for rice but also for other cereal crops. In the post-genomic era, significant progress has been made on defining transcriptome and epigenome as well as gene discovery by way of forward and reverse genetic approaches. Efforts are on to fill the gap between the genome and the phenotype. This may lead to regular practice of genomics-assisted breeding of rice.