Effects of manipulation of pyruvate decarboxylase and alcohol dehydrogenase levels on the submergence tolerance of rice

A transgenic approach was taken to manipulate the levels of pyruvate decarboxylase (PDC) and alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) in rice, in order to investigate whether alteration of ethanol fermentation can affect anaerobic tolerance. A line transformed with an antisense Adh1 construct had only 4–8% of the ADH activity of untransformed plants. This line showed reduced ethanol production and coleoptile growth under anoxia. Mature plants had reduced...