https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-025-08883-6

http://en.people.cn/n3/2025/0421/c90000-20304866.html

Researchers at the CASCenter for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences have completed a comprehensive analysis of rice genes compiled from 145 representative rice samples, most of which were wild species. Using advanced gene sequencing technology and computational methods, they established a “pangenome” collection — a map that covers nearly all of the rice plant’s genetic diversity, including tens of thousands of genes specific to wild rice.

The pangenome will allow scientists to explore the rich diversity of wild rice, which has been shaped by thousands of years of natural selection and has crucial traits that have ensured its survival over centuries of cultivation. More than 69,000 genes are included in the map, nearly 20 percent of which exist only in wild rice and are linked to disease resistance and environmental adaptability.

The study found that wild rice has a higher abundance and diversity of disease-resistant genes than cultivated rice. The team located 1,184 gene sites with higher disease-fighting potential than cultivated rice, including two genes that have proved resistant to rice blast, a major rice disease. Other discoveries highlighted in the study include the confirmation of the single-domestication origin hypothesis for all Asian cultivated rice species and the identification of a new cultivated group in South Asia, establishing a complete picture of rice evolution.