BEIJING, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The following is a summary of published science and technology news of China.

RICE GENES

Chinese scientists found two genes in rice that can make the staple crop more heat-resistant, providing a new way for breeding highly thermotolerant crops.

The researchers from the Shanghai Institute of Plant Physiology and Ecology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shanghai Jiao Tong University revealed the mechanism by which the rice's cell membrane senses external heat-stress signals before communicating with chloroplasts. It is the organ where photosynthesis takes place to orchestrate heat tolerance.

SILKWORM STUDY

A study has revealed how domesticated silkworm produces silk in its silk gland and the silkworm's transcriptome has been mapped at the single-cell level.

Researchers from the Chongqing-based Southwest University dissected nearly 20,000 individuals of silkworms in three early developmental stages like embryos and built a cell atlas of its silk gland through single-cell RNA sequencing.

WORKSTATION IN SOUTH CHINA SEA

China's southernmost island city of Sansha inaugurated its first academician workstation on Friday, which will focus on marine meteorological monitoring and forecasting, disaster prevention and mitigation in the South China Sea.

The city mayor Deng Zhong said Sansha is home to a vast sea area, numerous islands, abundant resources and unique tropical marine climate, making for the best natural environment to carry out marine scientific research.