The completed sequence revealed 37,544 genes in the approximately 400 million bases that make up the 12 chromosomes of Oryza sativa subspecies japonica, The Institute for Genomic Research, an IRGSP collaborator, said in a statement.
The sequence can be found here. The researchers released a draft sequence of the strain in 2002.
In rice and other cereals, such as maize, wheat, barley, the genome sequence will accelerate the search for genes that can increase crop yields and protect against disease, pests, and drought, TIGR said.
The japonica subspecies is cultivated mainly in
In addition to TIGR, the
Major funding for TIGR's portion of the project came from the U.S. Department of Energy, the National Science Foundation, and the US Department of Agriculture's Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service, TIGR said.
TIGR researchers sequenced about 10 percent of the staple-food crop's completed genome, which builds upon earlier drafts produced by Monsanto and Syngenta, TIGR said. The institute will spend the next four years annotating the rice sequence, it said.