Reference "Genetic analysis of rice domestication syndrome with the wild annual species, Oryza nivara"

Reference ID

11393

Title

Genetic analysis of rice domestication syndrome with the wild annual species, Oryza nivara

Source

The New phytologist, 2006, vol. 170, pp. 185-193

Authors (3)

Li-C	Zhou-A
Sang-T

Abstract

With a small and sequenced genome, rice provides an excellent system for
studying the genetics of cereal domestication. We conducted a quantitative trait
locus (QTL) analysis of key domestication traits using an F2 population derived
from a cross between the cultivated rice, Oryza sativa, and the annual wild
species, O. nivara. We found that the QTL of large phenotypic effects were
targeted by domestication selection for effective harvest and planting,
including a reduction in seed shattering and seed dormancy and the
synchronization of seed maturation. Selection for higher yield was probably
responsible for the fixation of mutations at a cluster of QTL on chromosome 7
and a few other chromosomal locations that could have substantially improved
plant architecture and panicle structure, resulting in fewer erect tillers and
longer and more highly branched panicles in cultivated rice. In comparison with
the wild perennial species, O. rufipogon, rice domestication from O. nivara
would have involved QTL with a greater degree of chromosomal co-localization and
required little genetic change associated with life history or mating system
transitions. The genetic analyses of domestication traits with both wild
relatives will open opportunities for the improvement of rice cultivars
utilizing natural germplasm.