Genetic architecture of ecological divergence between Oryza rufipogon and Oryza nivara.

Ecological divergence due to habitat difference plays a prominent role in the formation of new species, but the genetic architecture during ecological speciation and the mechanism underlying phenotypic divergence remain less understood. Two wild ancestors of rice (Oryza rufipogon and Oryza nivara) are a progenitor-derivative species pair with ecological divergence and provide a unique system for studying ecological adaptation/speciation. Here, we constructed a high-resolution linkage map and conducted a quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of 19 phenotypic traits using an F2 population generated from a cross between the two Oryza species. We identified 113 QTLs associated with interspecific divergence of 16 quantitative traits, with effect sizes ranging from 1.61% to 34.1% in terms of the percentage of variation explained (PVE). The distribution of effect sizes of QTLs followed a negative exponential, suggesting that a few genes of large effect and many genes of small effect were responsible for the phenotypic divergence. We observed 18 clusters of QTLs (QTL hotspots) on 11 chromosomes, significantly more than that expected by chance, demonstrating the importance of coinheritance of loci/genes in ecological adaptation/speciation. Analysis of effect direction and v-test statistics revealed that interspecific differentiation of most traits was driven by divergent natural selection, supporting the argument that ecological adaptation/speciation would proceed rapidly under coordinated selection on multiple traits. Our findings provide new insights into the understanding of genetic architecture of ecological adaptation and speciation in plants and help effective manipulation of specific genes or gene cluster in rice breeding.

Parallel Speciation of Wild Rice Associated with Habitat Shifts.

The occurrence of parallel speciation strongly implies the action of natural selection. However, it is unclear how general a phenomena parallel speciation is since it was only shown in a small number of animal species. In particular, the adaptive process and mechanisms underlying the process of parallel speciation remain elusive. Here, we used an integrative approach incorporating population genomics, common garden, and crossing experiments to investigate parallel speciation of the wild rice species Oryza nivara from O. rufipogon. We demonstrated that O. nivara originated multiple times from different O. rufipogon populations and revealed that different O. nivara populations have evolved similar phenotypes under divergent selection, a reflection of recurrent local adaptation of ancient O. rufipogon populations to dry habitats. Almost completed premating isolation was detected between O. nivara and O. rufipogon in the absence of any postmating barriers between and within these species. These results suggest that flowering time is a "magic" trait that contributes to both local adaptation and reproductive isolation in the origin of wild rice species. Our study thus demonstrates a convincing case of parallel ecological speciation as a consequence of adaptation to new environments.

Multiple domestications of Asian rice.

The origin of domesticated Asian rice (Oryza sativa L.) has been controversial for more than half a century. The debates have focused on two leading hypotheses: a single domestication event in China or multiple domestication events in geographically separate areas. These two hypotheses differ in their predicted history of genes/alleles selected during domestication. Here we amassed a dataset of 1,578 resequenced genomes, including an expanded sample of wild rice from throughout its geographic range. We identified 993 selected genes that generated phylogenetic trees on which japonica and indica formed a monophyletic group, suggesting that the domestication alleles of these genes originated only once in either japonica or indica. Importantly, the domestication alleles of most selected genes (~80%) stemmed from wild rice in China, but the domestication alleles of a substantial minority of selected genes (~20%) originated from wild rice in South and Southeast Asia, demonstrating separate domestication events of Asian rice.

Divergence in flowering time is a major component contributing to reproductive isolation between two wild rice species (Oryza rufipogon and O. nivara).

It is of critical importance for our understanding of speciation process to determine the forms of reproductive isolation and their relative importance in species divergence. Oryza nivara and O. rufipogon are direct ancestors of Asian cultivated rice and a progenitor-daughter species pair. Investigating the reproductive isolation between them provides insights into plant speciation and helps understanding of the rice domestication. Here, we quantitatively measured the major components of reproductive isolation between the two species based on common garden and crossing experiments for three pairs of sympatric populations in Nepal, Cambodia and Laos. We revealed significant differences in the flowering times between species pairs, with O. nivara flowering much earlier than O. rufipogon. A very weak reduction in seed set but no reduction in F1 viability and fertility were detected for the crosses between species relative to those within species. Moreover, we detected asymmetrical compatibility between species and found that emasculation significantly decreased pollination success in O. nivara but not in O. rufipogon. Our study demonstrates that the divergence between O. nivara and O. rufipogon is maintained almost entirely by the difference in flowering times and suggests that differential flowering times contribute to both habitat preferences and reproductive isolation between species.

Automatic Radiographic Position Recognition from Image Frequency and Intensity.

Purpose: With the development of digital X-ray imaging and processing methods, the categorization and analysis of massive digital radiographic images need to be automatically finished. What is crucial in this processing is the automatic retrieval and recognition of radiographic position. To address these concerns, we developed an automatic method to identify a patient's position and body region using only frequency curve classification and gray matching. Methods: Our new method is combined with frequency analysis and gray image matching. The radiographic position was determined from frequency similarity and amplitude classification. The body region recognition was performed by image matching in the whole-body phantom image with prior knowledge of templates. The whole-body phantom image was stitched by radiological images of different parts. Results: The proposed method can automatically retrieve and recognize the radiographic position and body region using frequency and intensity information. It replaces 2D image retrieval with 1D frequency curve classification, with higher speed and accuracy up to 93.78%. Conclusion: The proposed method is able to outperform the digital X-ray image's position recognition with a limited time cost and a simple algorithm. The frequency information of radiography can make image classification quicker and more accurate.