A single base change explains the independent origin of and selection for the nonshattering gene in African rice domestication.

Reduced seed shattering was a critical evolutionary step in crop domestication. Two cultivated rice species, Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima, were independently domesticated from the wild species Oryza rufipogon in Asia and Oryza barthii in Africa, respectively. A single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) in the c gene, which encodes a trihelix transcription factor, causes nonshattering in O. sativa. However, the genetic mechanism of nonshattering in O. glaberrima is poorly understood. We conducted an association analysis for the coding sequences of SH3/SH4 in AA- genome rice species and the mutation suggested to cause nonshattering was demonstrated to do so using a positional-cloning approach in the O. sativa genetic background. We found that the loss of seed shattering in O. glaberrima was caused by an SNP resulting in a truncated SH3/SH4 protein. This mutation appears to be endemic and to have spread in the African gene pool by hybridization with some O. barthii accessions. We showed that interaction between the O. sativa and O. glaberrima domestication alleles of SH3 in heterozygotes induces a 'throwback' seed-shattering phenotype similar to that in the wild species. Identification of the causative SNP provides new insights into the molecular basis of seed shattering in crops and may facilitate investigation of the history of African rice domestication.

Gibberellin biosynthesis and signal transduction is essential for internode elongation in deepwater rice.

Under flooded conditions, the leaves and internodes of deepwater rice can elongate above the water surface to capture oxygen and prevent drowning. Our previous studies showed that three major quantitative trait loci (QTL) regulate deepwater-dependent internode elongation in deepwater rice. In this study, we investigated the age-dependent internode elongation in deepwater rice. We also investigated the relationship between deepwater-dependent internode elongation and the phytohormone gibberellin (GA) by physiological and genetic approach using a QTL pyramiding line (NIL-1 + 3 + 12). Deepwater rice did not show internode elongation before the sixth leaf stage under deepwater condition. Additionally, deepwater-dependent internode elongation occurred on the sixth and seventh internodes during the sixth leaf stage. These results indicate that deepwater rice could not start internode elongation until the sixth leaf stage. Ultra-performance liquid chromatography tandem mass-spectrometry (UPLC-MS/MS) method for the phytohormone contents showed a deepwater-dependent GA1 and GA4 accumulation in deepwater rice. Additionally, a GA inhibitor abolished deepwater-dependent internode elongation in deepwater rice. On the contrary, GA feeding mimicked internode elongation under ordinary growth conditions. However, mutations in GA biosynthesis and signal transduction genes blocked deepwater-dependent internode elongation. These data suggested that GA biosynthesis and signal transduction are essential for deepwater-dependent internode elongation in deepwater rice.