Can the grains offer each other helping hands? Convergent molecular mechanisms associated with domestication and crop improvement in rice and maize

Abstract

The grasses, Poaceae, are an extraordinarily ecologically successful clade, with more than 10 000 described extant species. The grasses include more than 30 domesticated grain crops, ranging from maize (Zea mays), rice (Oryza sativa), and wheat (Triticum aestivum), which are collectively responsible for 50% of all calories consumed by humans around the world, to minor and orphan crops such as teff (Eragrostis tef), pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum), proso millet (Panicum milaceum), and Job’s tears (Coix lacryma-jobi) (Glémin and Bataillon, 2009).