he biology of rice, the world's indispensable grain, comes into sharper focus with the publication in Science of two draft sequences of the rice genome -- one by a publicly funded group led by the Beijing Genomics Institute; the other by the private firm Syngenta. The 5 April 2002 issue of Science celebrates the publication of these landmark papers with a collection of research, news, and features that help place the achievement in context.

The Rice Genome

A Draft Sequence of the Rice Genome (Oryza sativa L. ssp. indica)
J. Yu et al.; Science 296, 79 (2002)
[Abstract] [Full Text]

A Draft Sequence of the Rice Genome (Oryza sativa L. ssp. japonica)
S. A. Goff et al.; Science 296, 92 (2002)
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Data Access Agreement

Agreement (and associated documents) between Syngenta and AAAS regarding access to data supporting the Goff et al. study. (Readers wishing to execute these agreements should go to www.tmri.org.)

Summary of agreement (PDF file; 75 KB)
Detailed agreement documents (PDF file; 1064 KB)

Rice Genome Poster

A downloadable version (in Adobe PDF format) of the poster on rice genomics included with the 5 April 2002 print issue of Science.

Rice Genomics Poster (PDF file; 864 KB)

Also of interest in plant genomics in this issue:

Functional Annotation of a Full-Length Arabidopsis cDNA Collection
M. Seki et al.; Science 296, 141 (2002)
[Abstract] [Full Text]

Photo credit

Editorial

The Importance of Rice
D. Kennedy; Science 296, 13 (2002)
[Full Text]

News Focus

Rice: Boiled Down to Bare Essentials
D. Normile and E. Pennisi; Science 296, 32 (2002)
[Summary] [Full Text]

A Deal for the Rice Genome
E. Marshall; Science 296, 34 (2002)
[Summary] [Full Text]

From Standing Start to Sequencing Superpower
D. Normile; Science 296, 36 (2002)
[Summary] [Full Text]

Letters

Why Finishing the Rice Genome Matters
J. Leach et al.; Science 296, 45 (2002)
[Full Text]

Collaborating on the Rice Genome
S. A. Goff; Science 296, 45 (2002)
[Full Text]

Perspectives

The Cereal of the World's Poor Takes Center Stage
R. P. Cantrell and T. G. Reeves; Science 296, 53 (2002)
[Summary] [Full Text]

World Poverty and Hunger -- The Challenge for Science
I. Serageldin; Science 296, 54 (2002)
[Summary] [Full Text]

The Most Precious Things Are Not Jade and Pearls . . .
P. Ronald and H. Leung; Science 296, 58 (2002)
[Summary] [Full Text]

Opening the Door to Comparative Plant Biology
J. Bennetzen; Science 296, 60 (2002)
[Summary] [Full Text]

Note to readers: Additional papers on the genomics and genetics of rice appear in the March 2002 issue of The Plant Cell:

• B. Burr, Mapping and Sequencing the Rice Genome [Full Text]
• J. Wu et al., A Comprehensive Rice Transcript Map Containing 6591 Expressed Sequence Tag Sites [Abstract]
• M. Chen et al., An Integrated Physical and Genetic Map of the Rice Genome [Abstract]