This research is supported in part, by the STRASA Project funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, USA. We thank the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), the China Scholarship Council (CSC), and the National Key Technology R&D Program of China (2007BAD87B11) and the 948 Program, Minsitry of Agriculture, China (200803030), for providing support for this work. We also thank James Egdane, International Rice Research Institute, for his technical assistance during the study.