Yin Zhong Chao

Impact

Rice (Oryza sativa) is a staple food crop for more than half of the world’s population. However, rice production is affected by many types of abiotic and biotic stress. Genetic breeding by utilizing natural resistance or tolerance genes is the most economic and efficient way to combat or adapt to these stresses. The development of new and improved lines can boost the production of high-quality aromatic rice in tropical regions. Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) is the most popular and valuable fruit vegetable in the world and a great source of vitamin C, potassium, folate, vitamin K and antioxidants. Tomato adapts well to different growth conditions, including open field, greenhouse and fully controlled indoor environment, which makes it a good candidate crop for urban farming. Developing commercially desirable and viable tomato varieties can be beneficial for increasingly urbanised farming landscapes.

Collaborations, Achievements & Honours

  • Licensed one of the improved parental lines of hybrid rice to Win-All Hi-Tech Seed Company, China (2021)
  • Plant Variety Protection (PVP) registration of Temasek Rice in Indonesia (2020) and Singapore (2019)
  • Identified rice genes (Xa10, Xa10-Ni, Xa23-Ni, Xa27 and Xa27B) for disease resistance to rice bacterial blight (2004 – 2024)
  • Bred and commercialised Temasek Rice and parental lines of hybrid rice (2008 – 2024)
  • Generated low arsenic and cadmium rice (2024)
  • Screened and bred tomato inbred and hybrid lines with good fruit quality for urban indoor farming (since 2009)
  • Research collaboration with JOil on Jatropha biotechnology (2009)
  • Granted research on marker-assisted breeding of parental lines of super hybrid rice for biotic and abiotic stress (2013)
  • Granted research on capability building of trainers and curriculum development of higher yield rice in multi-locations for the Agency for Agricultural Research and Development, Ministry of Agriculture, Indonesia (2012)
  • Granted research on rice for the future: novel strategies to develop elite and improved varieties for sustainable rice production, by Singapore National Research Foundation (2012)
  • Granted research on capability building programme to improve existing rice varieties for cultivation in Lao PDR, by Temasek Foundation (2009)
  • Granted research on the development of higher yield rice and new parental rice-lines for cultivation in Aceh, Indonesia, to help rebuild communities, by Temasek Foundation (2008)
  • Granted research services agreement on rice study (2005)
  • Granted research on molecular methods for selection and development of disease resistant rice varieties, by Singapore Agri-Food and Veterinary Authority (2003)
  • Outstanding Rice Scientist of Singapore, ASEAN Rice Science and Technology Ambassadors Award (2017)

Research Areas

Molecular Pathogenesis in Rice, Plant Molecular Genetics, Marker-assisted breeding in rice and tomato, Plant Genetic Gengineering

Affiliations

  • Senior Principal Investigator, TLL
  • Adjunct Associate Professor, NUS

Question

How do we develop new and improved rice and tomato varieties through genetics and genetic engineering?

Approach

Zhong Chao’s lab discovered the molecular interaction between rice and Xanthomonas oryzae pv. oryzae (Xoo), the causal agent of bacterial blight disease in rice. During infection, Xoo strains deliver transcription activator–like (TAL) Type-III effectors into host cellsto facilitate bacterial infection and promote diseases. At the same time, rice has evolved mechanisms of self-immolation by the adaptation of TAL effector-dependent disease resistance (R) genes, whose expression, unintentionally induced by the TAL effectors, triggers a hypersensitive response and disease resistance. Zhong Chao’s lab isolated genes for bacterial blight resistance using a map-based cloning approach.

Zhong Chao’s lab conducted rice molecular breeding through traditional genetics with marker-assisted selection and genetic engineering. Rice varieties chosen for molecular breeding include elite inbred rice and parental lines of hybrid rice. The traits and genes selected for molecular breeding cover disease resistance to rice bacterial blight (Xa4, Xa21 and Xa27) and rice blast (Pi9), submergence tolerance (Sub1A), semi-dwarf (sd1), aromatic rice (badh2.1/fgr), and insect resistance to brown plant hopper (Bph14), stem borer and leaf folder (Cry1Ab/1Ac). Recently, his group developed a new version of Temasek Rice that has a low content of arsenic and/or cadmium in rice grain.

Zhong Chao’s group started to work on tomato in 2019. As the limited farmland and the tropical climate in Singapore makes it challenging to do tomato plantation in open field, his group conducted plantation trials in greenhouses and growth rooms to screen for suitable tomato starter lines for further development on new tomato varieties with high yield and good nutrients for urban farming, especially indoor farming, through genetic breeding and genetic engineering.

Bio

Zhong Chao earned his PhD at Fudan University in 1997. After postdoctoral research at the Singapore Institute of Molecular Agrobiology, he joined TLL and led the molecular plant pathology group since 2002. Zhong Chao has devoted his career to improving rice through gene identification, marker-assisted breeding and genetic engineering. His research group bred a new version of aromatic Indica rice, marketed as Temasek Rice, a good grain variety with high yield, improved cooking quality, and multiple resistance to biotic and biotic stresses. Since 2019, his research group started to develop new tomato varieties with high yield and good-quality fruits for urban farming, especially indoor plantation.

Senior Principal Investigator

Yin Zhong Chao

The lab conducts gene identification and molecular breeding of rice and tomatoes.  

Contact

yinzc@tll.org.sg
+65 6872 7420

Group Publications