Cover

Abstract

On the cover

Since anaerobic germination (AG) is a key trait for the improvement of direct seeding in rice breeding, a simple and reliable method of evaluating AG is required. We germinated seeds in deoxygenated water and measured the coleoptile length several days later (main photo). We then compared the results with a conventional method using the survival rate in flooded soil (upper left panel). The anoxic water evaluation method saves space and time in a stable environment compared with flooded soil evaluation, indicating it is more applicable to the genetic analysis and breeding of AG in rice (This issue, p. 633–639).

(N. Kuya: NARO, Institute of Crop Science)