Scientists have identified a gene in rice plants that could help farmers grow more food while using less fertiliser, according to a study published in the journal Science. The authors suggest that this finding could have significant implications for global food security.
The study, conducted by researchers from the University of Oxford, centres around a gene that controls how rice plants balance their growth between roots and shoots when nutrients in the soil are scarce.
When key nutrient nitrogen is in short supply, plants normally respond by growing more roots to search for it, at the expense of the shoots and grain that farmers actually harvest. This trade-off makes sense in the wild, but it limits crop yields. Until now, scientists did not know which gene was responsible for triggering this switch.
In this study, the researchers identified a gene called WRINKLED1a as the key regulator of this process. In greenhouse and field experiments, rice plants with an enhanced version of this gene were able to maintain healthy shoot growth and produce strong yields even when nitrogen levels were low. In field trials carried out across two provinces in China, rice plants carrying the improved version of the gene produced up to 24% higher yields under low fertiliser conditions.
Corresponding author Dr Zhe Ji of the University of Oxford said: “Our study clearly shows that this regulator is a promising target for sustainable crop improvement. It was extraordinary to see the difference that the improved version of the gene had on rice yields during our field trials.”
The team screened more than 3,000 varieties of rice to find a naturally occurring version of the gene that works more strongly than usual, then bred this into other rice plants. The results were consistent across three separate field trials: the improved plants maintained a more stable balance between root and shoot growth across varying levels of fertiliser and delivered better yields in both low and high fertiliser conditions.
This matters because nitrogen fertiliser, while essential to modern farming, comes at a significant cost, both financial and environmental. It is one of the largest expenses for rice farmers, accounting for around a third of production costs in some cases, and its manufacture and use contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, water pollution and soil damage.
Rice feeds more than half the world’s population, but harvests are under growing pressure from climate change. Studies suggest that every 1°C rise in temperature during the growing season can reduce rice yields by more than 8%. A gene that helps plants do more with less fertiliser could therefore be a valuable tool in protecting food supplies for the future.
Lead author Dr Shan Li of Nanjing Agricultural University said: “WRINKLED1a helps rice avoid the usual ‘more roots, less shoot’ trade-off under nitrogen limitation, supporting stable yields with lower nitrogen inputs. The next step is to investigate whether homologous genes in other crops, such as wheat and maize, can be leveraged to achieve similar outcomes.”
Chengbo Shen et al., OsWRI1a coordinates systemic growth responses to nitrogen availability in rice.Science391,937-945(2026).DOI:10.1126/science.aeb8384