Recent geographic dispersal and environmental adaptation of indica rice.

Indica rice dispersed from the Indian subcontinent to other parts of Asia within the last 2,000 years and shows gene flow with island Southeast Asian japonica landraces.

• Why it matters: Understanding indica rice dispersal and adaptation is crucial for crop improvement and food security, especially as climate and environmental conditions change.
• What they did: Using genome data from 957 indica landraces, including newly sequenced cultivars and herbarium specimens collected over 167 years, the study reconstructs dispersal patterns and examines gene flow and environmental associations.
• The result: Indica rice shows recent dispersal, gene flow with island japonica, and significant associations with local climatic and edaphic variables, indicating possible local adaptation and cultural selection for grain quality traits.