XVI International Botanical Congess
Little is known on molecular events which occurred during domestication except for genetic drifts, although morphological diversity is a conspicuous feature in crops. We examined wild and cultivated rice, focusing on variation of amylose content in grains since amylose content determined grain quality and it greatly varies in cultivars but not in wild forms. The Wx locus is responsible for amylose synthesis and a series of alleles which altered the gene expression were detected only in cultivated forms based on the gene expression. We compared DNA sequences of different alleles from wild and cultivated forms. The result indicated that regulatory modifications at a single gene is associated with its domestication.