PNAS | June 20, 2006 | vol. 103 | no. 25

Phylogeography of Asian wild rice, Oryza rufipogon, reveals multiple independent domestications of cultivated rice, Oryza sativa

by Jason P. Londo, , Yu-Chung Chiang, Kuo-Hsiang Hung, Tzen-Yuh Chiang, and Barbara A. Schaal

Cultivated rice, Oryza sativa L., represents the world's most important staple food crop, feeding more
than half of the human population. Despite this essential role in world agriculture, the history of cultivated

rice's domestication from its wild ancestor, Oryza rufipogon, remains unclear. In this study, DNA sequence

variation in three gene regions is examined in a phylogeographic approach to investigate the domestication of cultivated rice. Results indicate that India and Indochina may represent the ancestral center of diversity for O. rufipogon. Additionally, the data suggest that cultivated rice was domesticated at least twice from different O. rufipogon populations and that the products of these two independent domestication events are the two major rice varieties, Oryza sativa indica and Oryza sativa japonica. Based on this geographical analysis, O. sativa indica was domesticated within a region south of the Himalaya mountain range, likely eastern India, Myanmar, and Thailand, whereas O. sativa japonica was domesticated from wild rice in southern China…

The combined genetic and geographic data provide strong evidence for multiple domestications

of cultivated rice. O. sativa japonica and O. sativa indica rice each appear to have arisen separately

from ancestral wild rice gene pools: japonica from southern China and indica from India/Indochina.

An additional domestication event may have occurred for Aus rice in India. Further studies that

examine the finer-scale diversification of the minor races of rice (Aus, Ashinas, and aromatics) are

needed to resolve the evolutionary history of these rice types as well as to identify the important genetic

resource they may represent for the future of crop improvement.
See full text at: http://www.pnas.org/cgi/content/full/103/25/9578?ck=nck

Shaking Out The Family Tree: Rice Domestiction Confirmed Genetically

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060908144231.htm Source:

Washington University In St. Louis
Date: September 11, 2006
See also: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/061219121657.htm

Munda Languages
Author: Zide, Norman H.

Description:

The Munda group of languages of the Austroasiatic family are spoken by so-called `tribals` in central and
eastern India. They are the least well-known and most poorly documented languages of the Indian
subcontinent. This work - unprecedented and original - draws together a distinguished group of international experts in the field of Munda language research, presents current assessments of a wide range of typological and comparative-historical issues, and offers agendas for future research. Never before has there been the real possibility of putting together a volume such as this one, for there is now greater interest in the Munda languages than ever before, and good descriptions of almost all of the languages in the family can now be offered, as well as broader studies on such topics as the typology or historical phonology of the Munda language family, and how Munda fits in the greater South Asian linguistic area.

The Munda language family is old in eastern and central India - older than the Dravidianand
Indo-Aryan languages now found in their territory. The ancestor language of Proto-Munda and the
cognate Mon-Khmer (Khmer-Nicobar) languages, viz. Proto-Austroasiatic, is at least as ancient as
Proto-Indo-European, and is as important culturally and archaeologically for Southeast Asia, South
China and eastern India, as Proto-Indo-European is for its part of the world.

The Munda Languages consists of 21 chapters, and Introductory Chapter and a Preface. The book is
divided into three parts. Part I presents synchronic descriptions of the eleven main Munda languages.
Part II offers a range of sociolinguistic and literary/philological studies of the Munda languages, while
Part III discusses an array of typological, a real, and comparative-historical topics in current Munda
linguistics, presenting an assessment of past successes (and failures) in these domains, the status of current
work, and suggested paths for future research.