Percentage of aerenchyma area has been closely linked with amounts of methane emitted by rice. A diversity panel of 39 global rice varieties were examined to determine genetic variation for root transverse section (RTS), aerenchyma area, and % aerenchyma. RTS and aerenchyma area showed a strong positive correlation while there existed no significant correlation between RTS area and % aerenchyma. Five varieties previously shown to differ in methane emissions under field conditions were found to encompass the variation found in the diversity panel for RTS and aerenchyma area. These five varieties were evaluated in a greenhouse study to determine the relationship of RTS, aerenchyma area, and % aerenchyma with methane emissions. Methane emissions at physiological maturity were the highest for ‘Rondo’, followed by ‘Jupiter’, while ‘Sabine’, ‘Francis’ and ‘CLXL745’ emitted the least. The same varietal rank, ‘Rondo’ being the largest and ‘CLXL745’ the smallest, was observed with RTS and aerenchyma areas. RTS and aerenchyma area were significantly correlated with methane emissions, r = 0.61 and r = 0.57, respectively (P < 0.001); however, there was no relationship with % aerenchyma. Our results demonstrated that varieties with a larger root area also developed a larger aerenchyma area, which serves as a gas conduit, and as a result, methane emissions were increased. This study suggests that root transverse section area could be used as a means of selecting germplasm with reduced CH4 emissions.
