Of the major food crops, only rice is currently able to survive flooding. Thanks to new research, that could soon change — good news for a world in which rains are increasing in both frequency and intensity.

Rice was domesticated from wild species that grew in tropical regions, where it adapted to endure monsoons and waterlogging. Some of the genes involved in that adaptation exist in the other plants but have not evolved to switch on when the roots are being flooded.

“We hope to take advantage of what we learned about rice in order to help activate the genes in other plants that could help them survive waterlogging,” said study lead Julia Bailey-Serres, a UC Riverside professor of genetics.

The group is now planning additional studies to improve the survival rates of the plants that currently die and rot from excess water.