This working draft provides the most extensive understanding of all 12 chromosomes of rice to date.
Rice is now the first crop plant to be decoded, or sequenced, in such genetic detail.
This decoding of the rice genome is fundamental information, which will aid researchers and scientists in the development of improved types of rice. It will also expand knowledge about crop yield, disease and pest resistance, hybrid vigor, and adaptability to different environmental situations. Rice is a model cereal for genome sequencing, and the completion of its genome is a key to understanding the genomic structure of other grasses. Knowing the location of a gene in rice can help to find similar genes in corn and wheat. The rice genome is 37 times smaller than wheat, and six times smaller than corn.