| Abstract Detail
Population Genetics Yu, Guoqin [1], Olsen, Kenneth [1], Schaal, Barbara A. [1]. Evolution of the starch biosynthesis pathway in rice (Oryza sativa L., Poaceae). The evolution of metabolic pathways is a fundamental but little understood aspect of evolutionary change. One approach for studying this process is to examine the molecular evolution of genes which together compose an integrated developmental or biochemical pathway. The rice endosperm starch biosynthetic pathway offers an ideal system to do this. This pathway is one of the best characterized metabolic pathways in plants, and starch is a trait that has evolved in response to strong selection during rice domestication and subsequent crop improvement. In this study, we have examined the molecular evolution and population genetics of five key genes in the rice starch biosynthesis pathway to address the following questions: 1) What are the relative roles of genetic drift and selection in shaping the nucleotide diversity of starch genes during the domestication of rice from its wild ancestor Oryza rufipogon? 2) How does the molecular evolution of starch genes during domestication compare to unlinked loci across the genome? 3) How have these processes differed between the initial domestication process and the subsequent breeding of modern crop cultivars? Because cultivated rice arose through two independent domestication events, it is also possible to examine the role of genetic introgression among independently-derived variety groups in the evolution of starch qualities in cultivated rice.
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1 - Washington University in St. Louis, Biology, 1 brookings drive, Campus box 1229, Saint Louis, mo, 63130, usa
Keywords:
evolution of starch pathway
Selection
bottleneck.
Presentation Type: Oral Paper:Papers for Topics
Session: 40
Location: Cottonwood D/Snowbird Center
Date: Tuesday, July 28th, 2009
Time: 9:30 AM
Number: 40003
Abstract ID:358 |
