Patent ID: 7319181

Claim:
A method for increasing aromatic fragrance in a transgenic rice plant comprising increasing the level of the compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline in a transgenic rice plant compared to its level in a control, non-transgenic rice plant by reducing the level of an mRNA in said rice plant, wherein the mRNA is encoded by a nucleic acid comprising SEQ ID NO: 5 and wherein the mRNA level is reduced by expression of said nucleic acid in an antisense orientation, or by expression of an RNA interference (RNAi) construct comprising at least a fragment of 20 contiguous nucleotides of said nucleic acid, said method further comprising the step of screening the resulting plants for an increase in popcorn-like aroma or for an increase in the compound 2-acetyl-1-pyrroline relative to said control, non-transgenic rice plant.