Dataset Information

Bulliform Phytolith Size of Rice and Its Correlation With Hydrothermal Environment: A Preliminary Morphological Study on Species in Southern China.

ABSTRACT: In the last decade, our understanding of rice domestication has improved by new archaeological findings using advanced analytical techniques such as morphological and morphometric analyses on rice grains, spikelet bases and phytoliths, and ancient DNA analysis on rice remains. Previous studies have considered the size of rice bulliform phytoliths as a proxy for tracking the domestication process. These phytoliths are often abundant and well preserved in sediments, and their shape is under the control of numerous genes, which may shift toward larger sizes by genetic mutation in domestication. Therefore, it has been assumed that the bulliforms of domesticated rice are usually larger than those of wild ones; however, morphometric data supporting this assumption are lacking in the literature, thereby requiring additional evidence to test its veracity. In this study, the vertical and horizonal lengths of bulliform phytoliths were measured in four rice species (domesticated Oryza sativa and wild Oryza rufipogon, Oryza officinalis, and Oryza meyeriana) from different regions of southern China. We found that the bulliform morphometric data of wild and domesticated rice overlapped and that there was no statistically significant difference between them. Therefore, bulliform size could not be used as a diagnostic indicator to distinguish domesticated rice from wild species and is a supporting rather than conclusive proxy for determining the domesticated status of rice in archaeological research. We further found that larger rice bulliform sizes likely occurred at the locations with higher temperature, precipitation, and water levels, indicating hydrothermal environment is an alternative factor influencing the size of rice bulliform phytoliths. For further archaeological use of an increasing size trend of bulliform phytoliths to reveal the process of rice domestication, we present some suggestions for controlling the influence of hydrothermal factors. Even so, the combination of bulliform phytolith size with other established criteria is strongly suggested to provide precise identification of wild and domesticated rice in future research.

SUBMITTER: Wang C

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6735168 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Bulliform Phytolith Size of Rice and Its Correlation With Hydrothermal Environment: A Preliminary Morphological Study on Species in Southern China.

Wang Can C Lu Houyuan H Zhang Jianping J Mao Limi L Ge Yong Y

Frontiers in plant science 20190822

In the last decade, our understanding of rice domestication has improved by new archaeological findings using advanced analytical techniques such as morphological and morphometric analyses on rice grains, spikelet bases and phytoliths, and ancient DNA analysis on rice remains. Previous studies have considered the size of rice bulliform phytoliths as a proxy for tracking the domestication process. These phytoliths are often abundant and well preserved in sediments, and their shape is under the co ...[more]

PMID: 31552062

Similar Datasets

Project description:BACKGROUND:Grass phytoliths are the most common phytoliths in sediments; recognizing grass phytolith types is important when using phytoliths as a tool to reconstruct paleoenvironments. Grass bulliform cells may be silicified to large size parallelepipedal or cuneiform shaped phytoliths, which were often regarded as of no taxonomic value. However, studies in eastern Asia had identified several forms of grass bulliform phytoliths, including rice bulliform phytolith, a phytolith type frequently used to track the history of rice domestication. Identification with a higher level of taxonomic resolution is possible, yet a systematic investigation on morphology of Poaceae bulliform phytoliths is lacking. We aimed at providing a morphological description of bulliform phytoliths of Poaceae from Taiwan based on morphometric measurements in anatomical aspect. The results are important references for paleo-ecological studies. RESULT:The morphology of grass bulliform phytoliths is usually consistent within a subfamily; the end profile is relatively rectangular in Panicoideae and Micrairoideae, whereas cuneiform to nearly circular in Oryzoideae, Bambusoideae, Arundinoideae, and Chloridoideae. Bulliform phytoliths were seldom observed in Pooideae. Certain morphotypes are limited to plants growing in specific environments. For example, large, thin, and pointed bulliform phytoliths are associated with wet habitat; Chloridoideae types are mostly from C4 plants occupying open arid places. CONCLUSION:Grass bulliform phytoliths can be identified at least to the subfamily level, and several forms were distinguished within large subfamilies. Previously un-reported silicified cell types, i.e., arm cells and fusoids, and two special trichome phytolith types associated with bulliform phytoliths, were described. Morphometric methods were great tools for delimiting morphotypes; with refined morphological classification the association between forms and habit/habitats was revealed. The knowledge provides new ways to interpret phytolith assemblage data, and it is especially useful when the sediments are enriched in large blocky phytoliths.

Dataset Information

Bulliform Phytolith Size of Rice and Its Correlation With Hydrothermal Environment: A Preliminary Morphological Study on Species in Southern China.

Publications

Bulliform Phytolith Size of Rice and Its Correlation With Hydrothermal Environment: A Preliminary Morphological Study on Species in Southern China.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets