Genetics of Adaptation in Wild Rice (Oryza)

Michigan State University, East Lansing MI

Investigators

Abstract

Adaptation by natural selection drives the evolution of new forms and species. Using wild relatives of rice as a study system, the long-term goal of the research is to genetically identify and ecologically evaluate adaptive mutations. The study will yield experimental data necessary for the rigorous test of population genetic theories of adaptive evolution, and provide direct evidence for the basic mechanisms of natural selection. Using an F2 population, the investigators will conduct a genetic analysis to identify chromosomal locations and phenotypic impact of major mutations responsible for the adaptive origin of Oryza nivara, the wild progenitor of cultivated rice, from its ancestral perennial species Oryza rufipogon. Meanwhile, they will develop near-isogenic lines (NILs) that have the genomic background of O. rufipogon and alleles of O. nivara. The NILs can then be used for molecular cloning of genes underlying adaptive evolution and for experimental test of natural selection at the gene level. The recent availability of rice genome sequences greatly expands the scope of genetic studies in both natural and agricultural populations. The genetic dissection of natural variation in the wild relatives of cultivated rice will open opportunities for the genetic improvement of rice and other cereal cultivars utilizing natural gene resources. The project will train undergraduate and graduate students and postdoctoral researchers with vertically integrated knowledge and research experience from genomics to ecology.