Enhancement of submergence tolerance in transgenic rice overproducing pyruvate decarboxylase

Transgenic rice (Oryza sativa L.) lines were produced through transformatio n with rice pdc1 gene coding for pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC), one of the e nzymes involved in alcohol fermentation. The overexpression of PDC was used not only to assess the role of alcohol Fermentation bur also to produce li nes with enhanced metabolic capacity under anaerobiosis conferring submerge nce tolerance to these lines. Tillers of confirmed T-o transgenic lines sho wed higher PDC activities and ethanol production compared to the untransfor med control. Consequently, ethanol production of tillers of T-o transgenic plants was positively correlated with survival after submergence. This is the first known report of transformation of an economically-importa nt crop resulting in increased submergence tolerance.