| Abstract Detail
Comparative Genomics/Transcriptomics Li, Xiang [1], Caicedo, Ana [2]. The divergent genetic networks underlying the convergent evolution of seed shattering in rice. Weedy rice (Oryza spp.) invades cultivated rice (O. sativa) fields and causes significant crop loss everywhere around the world. To outcompete cultivated rice, weedy rice populations have evolved several adaptive phenotypes, and seed shattering is one of the most deleterious traits, contributing to their spread and survival in the fields. However, our understanding about the genetic mechanisms for the seed shattering remain limited. Evidence from the several studies shows that weedy rice has evolved multiple times independently and most often from crop cultivars. This study focuses on three weedy rice populations, SH, BHA and SWR and three ancestral cultivars, indica, aus and japonica that these weedy have evolved from respectively and conducts the comparative transcriptomics to understand the genetic mechanisms for the convergent evolution of the high seed shattering in weedy rice and the low seed shattering in cultivated rice. Examining gene expression profiles in the specific tissue type, like abscission zone, the structure where the seed separates from the plant, building the genetic networks, comparing the expressions between the respective weedy and cultivated rice, and tracking the expression changes at different development stages are the efficient ways to help us identify the key regulators and the co-expressed gene networks involved in the shattering process. Exploration of the similarities and differentiations of the pathways employed or disrupted in the shattering process can help us fine-tune the process of shattering or threshability in the future.
1 - N 426 Life Science Laboratories , 240 Thatcher Way, Amherst , MA, 01003, United States
2 - University Of Massachusetts, Biology, 221 Morrill Science Center, 611 North Pleasant St., Amherst, MA, 01003, United States
Keywords:
convergent evolution
seed dispersal
Rice
transcriptomes .
Presentation Type: Oral Paper
Number: CGT5004
Abstract ID:879
Candidate for Awards:Margaret Menzel Award |
