Domestication history
of Oryza sativa
Upland rice cultivation in northern Thailand
Oryza sativa - cultivated rice
Minimum spanning network of gene region alleles and geographic pattern of
their distribution
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Oryza sativa,
Asian cultivated rice, is one of the most important staple crops for the
human population.
Despite this important agricultural role, the
domestication history of cultivated rice remains a debate. There are
many different hypotheses suggesting both a single domestication origin of
cultivated rice from it’s wild ancestor, O. rufipogon, as well as
hypotheses suggesting a diphyletic origin. Rice domestication is
estimated to have begun around 9,000 years ago within a broad geographic
region spanning eastern India, Indochina, and portions of southern China.
Investigating the gene pools of cultivated and wild rice
and examining relationships between these two species,
we have been able to address the
hybpotheses of rice domestication in a geographic context. Evidence
from this work suggests at least two independent domestication events
leading to the two major subspecies of cultivated rice. Oryza sativa
japonica, the type of rice preferentially consumed in upland regions of
Southeast Asia, northern China, Japan, and the United States, appears to
have been domesticated from Oryza rufipogon of south China and
Taiwan. Conversely, Oryza sativa indica, the lowland type of
rice consumed primarily in India, Bangledesh, and lowland regions of South
and Southeast Asia appears to have been domesticated from Oryza rufipogon
of Indochina (Thailand, Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos). Evidence from
one of the genetic markers analyzed also supports a potential third
domestication region and event associated with a particular indica rice
type. Oryza sativa indica var. Aus is a lowland short season
rice grown and consumed almost exclusively in eastern India and Bangledesh
and these cultivars associated closely with Oryza rufipogon sampled
from these regions. The domestication history of cultivated rice is
likely a processes involving multiple sampling of wild rice germplasm during
the development of the crop. However, the evidence obtained from this
study has contributed support to the hypothesis of multiple geographic and
independent domestications of this globally