A study in the journal Nature reports the discovery of rapid-growth genes in rice varieties that can withstand flooding by quickly rising above the new water line. Engineering other strains to include the "snorkel" genes could help rice yields.

    發表在《自然》（Nature）雜志上的一項研究報導了在水稻品種發現的快速生長基因，這種基因使水稻快速生長，從而抵抗水澇。通過基因工程引入這種"呼吸管"基因能提高水稻的產量。

    Rice Really Rises to the Occasion

    You've probably seen pictures of farmers wading ankle deep through waterlogged rice paddies. Rice, it seems, is a crop that likes it wet. But if the water gets too deep, the plants can actually drown. To help rescue sinking rice, Japanese scientists have discovered a pair of genes that allow inundated plants to keep their heads above water.

    Most of the high-yield rice varieties grown today can't cope with being completely submerged. But a few strains of rice are actually fine with a good flood. As the water levels rise, so do they: their stems can shoot up 10 inches in a single day. But those fast-growing strains produce five times less rice than the higher-yield varieties.

    To get the best of both worlds, the scientists studied some submersible rice and found two genes that are not present in shallow-water varieties. These genes, dubbed Snorkel 1 and 2, switch on a program that triggers rapid stem growth, results published in the August 20th issue of Nature.

    Using genetic engineering to toss those Snorkel genes into rice that can't hold its breath could prove a real lifesaver. Not just to the plants, but to the people who rely on them for food.

    水稻真地能應對水澇

    你可能看到過這樣的畫面，農民在充滿水的稻田里來回走動勞作。水稻似乎是一種喜水的農作物。但是如果水太深的話，水稻就會被淹死。為了幫助"解救"被淹的水稻，日本科學家發現了一對能讓水稻不被淹的基因。

    目前種植的大多數高產的水稻品種不能在完全被淹的情況下存活。但是有少量的水稻品種實際上不怕水澇。當水面上漲的時候，水稻也往上長：它們的莖稈能在一天之中長10英寸。但是這些莖稈快速生長的水稻品種的產量只有那些高產品種的五分之一。

    為了兼取上述兩種優點，科學家們研究了一些抗水澇水稻，并發現了兩種在淺水水稻品種中沒有的基因。這些基因被戲稱為"呼吸管1"和"呼吸管2",這兩種基因能促使水稻的莖稈快速成長，該研究結果發表在8月20日的《自然》（Nature）雜志上。

    利用基因工程把這些"呼吸管"基因引入到那些不能抵抗水澇的水稻中能真正起到"救生"的作用。這不但能"救活"水稻，也能解救那些依靠水稻為食物的人們。

    Vocabulary:

    Variety:（植物、語言等的）變種，變體

    Withstand:抵抗

    Strain: （植物的）品種；（疾病的）類型

    Snorkel: （徒手潛水用的）呼吸管

    Waterlogged: 水淹的

    Inundate:泛濫；淹沒

    Submerge:淹沒

    Submersible:能在水下使用的

    Dub:給…起綽號