Scott A. Jackson, a professor of agronomy, said studying the gene that decides how many shoots will form on a rice plant allows researchers to better understand how the gene evolved over time through natural selection and human interaction. Understanding the variations could allow scientists to place genes from wild rice species into domesticated rice to create varieties with more branching, increased plant size or other favorable characteristics.
Prof. Jackson set aside some time to discuss his research with Scientist Live.
What prompted you to engage in this line of research?
I've been interested in rice for more than a decade now, going back to my Ph.D work at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. It's an important crop and as a genetic model, it is very interesting.
How does studying the gene that decides how many shoots will form on a rice plant aid in understanding rice evolution?
This is one of several genes that we've been looking at from an evolutionary and ecological adaptation viewpoint. This gene was obviously important in the domestication of rice, or the choices that the early domesticators made in choosing which plants keep. More shoots means that there would be flowers and possibly more seed.
How did you approach your experiment and design it the way you did?
The genes we are looking at have been cloned and described by other scientists and are known to be critical to the adaptation and domestication of rice. The most critical part of this experiment was choosing a set of species from the genus Oryza (which includes rice) that would allow us to test the various evolutionary time points within the genus. This genus is approximately 15 MY old, so we had representative species that allowed us to infer gene and genome structure going all the way back to the formation of the genus.
Can you tell us about the tool developed in order to conduct your research?
One major tool that we developed was a set of genomic resources for more than a dozen species within the Oryza genus that allowed us to this work quickly and efficiently. These resources were made several years ago by a team that includes Rod Wing from the University of Arizona, Lincoln Stein from Cold Spring Harbor Laboratories in NY and myself and also involved numerous scientists around the world (China, the Philippines and Japan). These tools/resources are completely public and are being utilized world-wide.
Recent years have brought on an 'organic' movement that rails against genetically modified foods. However, haven't human beings been genetically modifying crops for millenia in the form of cross breeding, etc.? How many of the foods we eat are actually the wild varieties as opposed to newer domestic varieties? Say corn for example.
Yes, humans have either intentionally, or unintentionally, been moving genes around within and between species for millennia. This mixing of genes is present in almost everything we eat today. Potato, for instance, may include genes from wild species that allow it to be resistant to late blight (remember the potato famine in Ireland?); the maize we eat includes genes from numerous sources of maize and maize relatives.
How can your findings potentially be incorporated into practical agriculture in the future?
Using these resources, it will be easier and more practical to find genes in relatives of rice and move them into rice, via traditional breeding methods, to overcome diseases and result in varieties that may have improved resistance to drought.
Finally, what is next for your research?
We are continuing to work on rice and leveraging diversity for improvement, but are also developing similar resources for soybean and other legumes. In these endeavors, we are working closely with collaborators in the US and around the world to ensure that what we develop is available and useful.
(Reporting by Marc Landas)
