A team of Chinese scientists has uncovered a hidden 3D structure in rice DNA that allows the crop to grow more grain while using less nitrogen fertilizer. The finding, published in Nature Genetics by researchers from the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Oct. 29, could guide the next "green revolution" toward higher yields and more sustainable farming.

Wetlands are an important part of the ecological system, providing a myriad of benefits for people, wildlife, and the environment. They also serve as “nature’s kidneys,” filtering out pollutants from surface water. A new study from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign finds that wetlands along the Mississippi River Basin effectively clean up nitrogen runoff from agricultural fields. The researchers also show this can lead to significant savings for local drinking water treatment facilities.

Most japonica rice varieties possess similar alleles for grain size, producing short and wide grains.

The gs9^ko allele has a widely applicable effect on grain appearance improvement. The increased leaf angle of the gs9^ko allele does not affect its improvement effect.