2006 Annual Report 4d.Progress report. 4d. This report serves to document research conducted under a reimbursable agreement between ARS and the USDA-CSREES National Research Initiative Competitive Grants Program – Genetic Processes and Mechanisms of Crop Plants. Additional details of research can be found in the report for the parent CRIS 5306-21000-016-00D Rice Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement for Temperate Environments. This project was initiated July 1, 2005. The objective of this project is to clone and characterize the rice Lpa1 gene, which was previously identified through mutation. Rice plants that are lpa1 mutants have a significant reduction in the phosphorus storage molecule, phytic acid, with a corresponding increase in inorganic phosphate. Earlier work in our lab resulted in the identification of a 47 kb region on chromosome 2 containing the Lpa1 locus. During FY 2006, work to identify the gene was carried out including preliminary analysis of putative rice transformants, identification of additional putative low phytic acid rice mutants, and sequencing of the Lpa1 locus DNA from wild type and mutant rice strains. The identity of the Lpa1 gene is currently unknown, however, approximately 70% of the locus from both wild type and mutant strains has been sequenced and sequencing of the entire locus and analysis of the DNA will be completed by the end of FY 2006 and should reveal the nature of the difference between the strains. During FY 2006, a postdoctoral research affiliate was hired to work on this project in addition to one Ph.D. student who has been involved our efforts to characterize the Lpa1 locus since FY 2003.