1Yunnan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Kunming, 650205 China; 2Beijing Agricultural University, Beijing, 100094 China. (Published with permission from the original in the Rice Genetics Newsletter 1992(9):36). Edited for the website by B. Gordon).
Morishima (1986, 1987) said Chinese common wild rice (O. rufipogon) showed primitive growth habit and traits like japonica type. A survey of small samples of foreign and indigenous wild rices led us to the same conclusion. Chinese wild rice differed from foreign ones significantly in flag-leaf width (narrower), its length/width ratio (larger), fertile seed number per panicle (smaller), and percent seed set when bagged (smaller; Table 1).
Character |
Chinese |
Foreign |
Difference |
No. of strains observed |
13 |
12 |
|
Flag-leaf width (cm) |
0.86 |
1.06 |
0.19+/-0.06* |
L/W ratio of flag-leaf (%) |
43.6 |
29.7 |
13.9+/-5.81** |
Spikelets per panicle |
41.6 |
51.2 |
9.6+/-7.31 |
Fertile seeds/panicle |
7.9 |
28.2 |
20.3+/-4.86* |
Seed setting rate (%) |
20.2 |
54.8 |
34.6+/-9.16* |
Table 1. Mean character values of Chinese and foreign wild rices *P<0.05, **P<0.01.
Esterase isozymes characterizing japonica and indica types were 58.1 and 22.1%, respectively, in Chinese wild strains, and 19.3 and 47.7% in foreign ones. All agree with Morishima & Gadrinab (1987, Fig. 4).
References:
Morishima, H., 1986. Wild progenitors of cultivated rice and their population dynamics. Rice Genetics, p. 3-14, IRRI, Manila.
Morishima, H. & L. U. Gadrinab, 1987. Are Asian common wild rices differentiated into indica and japonica types? Crop Exploration and Utilization of Genetic Resources, p. 11-20. Taichung District Agricultural Improvement Station, Changhua, Taiwan (ed. S. C. Hsieh).