DOMESTICATION FROM WILD TO

CULTIVATED RICE

 Rice (Oryza) is unique among cereals in

being an aquatic crop which can vary
between a perennial or annual according
to water conditions.
 The wild Oryza rufipogon has both perennial
and annual types. Perennials have lower
seed productivity, lower self-pollination,
long anther length and greater height.

 Annuals tend to have high seed productivity,

self-pollination, short anther length and
lesser stature. Annuals adapt to more
heavily disturbed conditions like pond edges
and drought conditions (Oka 1983), making
them the likely domestic rice ancestor.
 Before domestication, annual wild rice probably
evolved from the perennial type under water
stress which caused density-independent
mortality like other Asian grasses (Whyte
1972).

 As intermediate perennial-annual rice seem to

carry some cultivated rice genes from
introgression, it gradually became domesticated
by responding to cultivation pressure or habitat
disturbance (seeding & harvesting) using its
rich genetic variation (Morishima 1984:19).
 As the first impact of human activity was grain
collection for food, seeding & harvesting was
the first step towards domestication because
harvesting was an unconscious selection for
non-shattering rice (i.e., rice that cannot seed
itself).
 Later, conscious selection may have
become learned. The three co-species of
cultivated rice, indica, javanica &
japonica, include several ecotypes.
 Through geographical expansion from its
hot humid tropical origins, some ecotypes
have become adapted to drier and cooler
climates, with breeding for drought and
cold resistance through genetic
engineering a continuing challenge to
agriculturists.
 As annuals demonstrate less genetic variability
than perennials, they have less flexibility to evolve
into new forms. Harvesting as such does not
"domesticate" wild rice because enough seed
always escapes to maintain the wild form
 Domestication begins when rice is planted and
forms a sown generation. At this point mutations
for non-shattering, synchronous ripening,
dormancy loss and large seeds are selected for by
growers.
 Cultivation enhances rapid change to sativa
through the production of uncast seeds, rapid
uniform germination and seedling vigour, fixed
growth and high seed productivity
 Nonetheless, domesticated sativa is limited in its
types because it only reproduces through human
manipulation.
 Domestic rice may thus have evolved in 20 to 200
years, a period invisible in the archaeological
record.
 Chinese wild japonica carries specific isozyme
alleles and neucleo- and cyto-types at high
frequency
 Carrying this further, DNA analyst Sato (1997)
showed indica & japonica differentiated before
domestication. As the main domesticated rice in
China is japonica, we are looking for
circumstances surrounding its transition from wild
rufipogon.
 This transition can be estimated with multivariate
analysis of wild vs. domesticated rice phytoliths
pioneered by Zhao (1998), but important
environmental data may be found using pollen and
insects from the same samples. Currently, the
study area environment is poorly known in the
15,000-8,000 year old rice domestication period of
the Epi-Palaeolithic.
 DOMESTIC RICE SUBSPECIES
O. sativa differentiates into indica and japonica
subspecies (Kato et al.), what Chinese have called
Hsien and Keng for two millennia.
They differentiate only as they approach
domestication and are separable genetically and
by physical and chemical attributes (Morishima et
al.1992:171).
Late differentiation is important as indica
predominates in tropical areas (e.g. SE Asia), while
japonica prevails in semi-tropical areas such as S
China.
A variable shape in rice grains in the 7,000 year-
old Hemudu site 120 km south of Shanghai led
You (1986) to suggest a mixture of many indica
and few japonica types, with japonica increasing
to half of the samples 4000-5000 years ago.
Last year, geneticist Sato (1998:1) refuted You's
suggested mixture by finding japonica
differentiation from ancestral wild rice 8,000-12000
years ago.
This was on the middle and lower Yangtze River
when the climate was warmer and more humid
than at present.
As japonica is more adaptable than indica to
changing climate, most if not all, the earliest
Chinese rice was probably japonica.

If so, less genetic diversity in japonica (Tang

et al.1988) favours standardized analysis in
archaeological samples.

Surviving indica may have resulted from

later japonica-wild rice hybridization (Sato
1998:11).
 Wild rice (Zizania palustris L.), Poaceae is
native to North America and grows
predominantly in the Great Lakes region in
shallow lakes and rivers
 This large-seeded species, one of four species
of wild rice has been gathered, dried, and eaten
by people since prehistoric times
 Early North American inhabitants, especially
the Ojibway, Menomini, and Cree tribes in the
North Central region of the continent, used the
grain as a staple food and introduced European
fur traders to wild rice
 Early English explorers called this aquatic plant
wild rice or Indian rice, while the French saw a
resemblance to oats and called it folle avoine

 Other names given to wild rice include

Canadian rice, squaw rice, water oats,
blackbird oats, and marsh oats. However, the
name "wild rice" persisted and today it is the
common name for the genus Zizania, even
though the wild type of rice (Oryza) is also
called wild rice.
 Corn Meal
Pearled Barley Buckwheat Grouts  Rye 

Couscous Millet Spelt Flakes

Tobe's 3-V
12 Grains 8 Grains Ground  Tobe's
- Tobe's 3-V
 Rice

 Basmati  Long
Grain
Crisp Rice Crisp Rice /
Marshmallow Brown Rice OG Brown Rice

Wild Rice Wild Rice Blend 15 Minute Quick Cook Wild Rice
 Wheat

 Farina Wheat Bran

Bulgur Wheat
(Like Cream of Wheat®)

Wheat Germ   Cracked Wheat Soft Wheat Berrie

OG Wheat Bran  Hard Wheat Berries

Kluski Home Style Egg Noodles
  Evolutionary hypothesis:
 * Wild progenitor is Manihot esculenta flabellifolia
 * Found at the interface of Amazon forest
and Cerrado of Brazil
 * 80 of genetic variation lost during
domestication
 Origin :
 * De Candolle : Cassava was first cultivated in the
Northeastern part of Brazil
 * Rogres (1932) genus Manihot has at least two
geographic centers of specification : Northeastern
Brazil and Mesoamerica Which include western
and southern Mexico and portion of Guatemala, El
Savador and Nicaragua
 * Cassava originated in Brazil and
Paraguay. Today it has been given the
status of a cultigen with no wild forms of
this species being known.
 * The largest producer of cassava is
Brazil, followed by Thailand, Nigeria,
Zaire and Indonesia
 * It is a staple food in many parts for
western and central Africa and is found
throughout the humid tropics.
 SWEET POTATO
Domestication of Sweet potato :


North America, Pacific island, South

America
 Star of Yelta Pearly Gates
Morning Glory Flying Saucers
Morning Glory
Morning Glory

Heavenly Blue Scarlet O'Hara

Morning Glory Morning Glory Enchantment Dwarf