Genetic variations of AA genome Oryza species measured by MITE-AFLP

MITEs (miniature inverted-repeat transposable elements) are the major transposable elements in Oryza species. We have applied the MITE-AFLP technique to study the genetic variation and species relationship in the AA-genome Oryza species. High polymorphism was detected within and between species. The genetic variation in the cultivated species, Oryza sativa and Oryza glaberrima, was comparatively lower than in their ancestral wild species. In comparison between geographical lineages of the AA genome species, African taxa, O. glaberrima and Oryza barthii, showed lower variation than the Asian taxa, O. sativa, Oryza rufipogon, and Oryza nivara, and Australian taxon Oryza meridionalis. However, another African taxon, Oryza longistaminata, showed high genetic variation. Species relationships were analyzed by the pattern of presence or absence of homologous fragments, because nucleotide sequences of the detected MITE-AFLP fragments revealed that the same fragments in different species shared very high sequence homology. The clustering pattern of the AA-genome species matched well with the geographical origins (Asian, African and Australian), and with the Australian taxon being distant to the others. Therefore, this study demonstrated that the MITE-AFLP technique is amenable for studying the genetic variation and species relationship in rice.     

Characterization of Interspecific Hybrids Between Oryza sativa L. and Three Wild Rice Species of China by Genomic In Situ Hybridization

In the genus Oryza, interspecific hybrids are useful bridges for transferring the desired genes from wild species to cultivated rice （Oryza sativa L.）. In the present study, hybrids between O. sativa （AA genome） and three Chinese wild rices, namely O. rufipogon （AA genome）, O. officinalis （CC genome）, and O. meyeriana （GG genome）, were produced. Agricultural traits of the F1 hybrids surveyed were intermediate between their parents and appreciably resembled wild rice parents. Except for the O. sativa × O. rufipogon hybrid, the other F1 hybrids were completely sterile. Genomic in situ hybridization （GISH） was used for hybrid verification. Wild rice genomic DNAs were used as probes and cultivated rice DNA was used as a block. With the exception of O. rufipogon chromosomes, this method distinguished the other two wild rice and cultivated rice chromosomes at the stage of mitotic metaphase with different blocking ratios. The results suggest that a more distant phylogenetic relationship exists between O. meyeriana and O. sativa and that O. rufipogon and O. sativa share a high degree of sequence homology. The average mitotic chromosome length of O. officinalis and O. meyeriana was 1.25- and 1.51-fold that of O. sativa, respectively. 4＇,6＇-Diamidino- 2-phenylindole staining showed that the chromosomes of O. officinalis and O. meyeriana harbored more heterochromatin, suggesting that the C and G genomes were amplified with repetitive sequences compared with the A genome. Although chromocenters formed by chromatin compaction were detected with wild rice-specific signals corresponding to the C and G genomes in discrete domains of the F1 hybrid interphase nuclei, the size and number of O. meyeriana chromocenters were bigger and greater than those of O. officinalis. The present results provide an important understanding of the genomic relationships and a tool for the transfer of useful genes from three native wild rice species in China to cultivars.     

Analysis of collinear regions of Oryza AA and CC genomes

Comparative analyses of genome structure and sequence of closely related species have yielded insights into the evolution and function of plant genomes. A total of 103,844 BAC end sequences delegated -73.8 Mb of O. officinalis that belongs to the CC genome type of the rice genus Oryza were obtained and compared with the genome sequences office cultivar, O. sativa ssp.japonica cv. Nipponbare. We found that more than 45% of O. officinalis genome consists of repeat sequences, which is higher than that of Nipponbare cultivar. To further investigate the evolutionary divergence of AA and CC genomes, two BAC-contigs of O. officinalis were compared with the collinear genomic regions of Nipponbare. Of 57 genes predicted in the AA genome orthologous regions, 39 had orthologs in the regions of the CC genome. Alignment of the orthologous regions indicated that the CC genome has undergone expansion in both genic and intergenic regions through primarily retroelement insertion. Particularly, the density of RNA transposable elements was 17.95% and 1.78% in O. officinalis and O. sativa, respectively. This explains why the orthologous region is about 100 kb longer in the CC genome in comparison to the AA genome.     

水稻CMS相关基因在稻属AA基因组中的分布及其单核苷酸多态性

水稻线粒体基因组嵌合基因orf79 和 orfH79分别被认为与BT-型和HL-型水稻CMS有关, 两者具有98%的同源性, 并且其DNA序列只存在4核苷酸的差异。对于这两个嵌合基因, 前者来源于栽培稻(Oryza. sativa L.), 而后者则来源于普通野生稻(O. rufipogon Griff.)。这意味着orf79/ orfH79可能在广泛分布于稻属AA基因组中。为了调查orf79/ orfH79在稻属物种中的分布和变异, 190份栽培稻品系[包括156份亚洲栽培稻(O. sativa var. landrace)和34份非洲栽培稻(O. glaberrima)]以及104份稻属AA基因组野生稻品系(包括O. rufipogon、O.nivara、O. glumaepatula、O. barthii、O. longistaminata和O. meridionalis 6个种), 被用于PCR扩增检测。31份具有控制粤泰A和笹锦A的特异片段的稻属AA基因组水稻品系被检测出。所有特异片段均被回收并测序, 基于DNA 序列的聚类结果显示31份水稻材料被分成了两组, 分别代表为BT-型和HL-型水稻不育细胞质组群。结果也进一步表明: HL-型水稻CMS胞质主要分布于一年生的O. nivara中; BT-型水稻CMS胞质可能来源于栽培稻变种或多年生野生稻O. rufipogon。     

Preferential occurrence of diazotrophic endophytes, Azoarcus spp., in wild rice species and land races of Oryza sativa in comparison with modern races

Several diazotrophic species of Azoarcus spp. occur as endophytes in the pioneer plant Kallar grass. The purpose of this study was to screen Asian wild rice and cultivated Oryza sativa varieties for natural association with these endophytes. Populations of culturable diazotrophs in surface-sterilized roots were characterized by 16S rDNA sequence analysis, and Azoarcus species were identified by genomic fingerprints. A. indigens and Azoarcus sp. group C were detected only rarely, whereas Azoarcus sp. group D occurred frequently in samples of flooded plants: in 75% of wild rice, 80% of land races of O. sativa from Nepal and 33% of modern cultivars from Nepal and Italy. The putatively endophytic populations of diazotrophs differed with the rice genotype. The diversity of cultured diazotrophs was significantly lower in wild rice species than in modern cultivars. In Oryza officinalis (from Nepal) and O. minuta (from the Philippines), Azoarcus sp. group D were the predominant diazotrophic putative endophytes in roots. In contrast, their number was significantly lower in modern cultivars of O. sativa, whereas numbers and diversity of other diazotrophs, such as Azospirillum spp., Klebsiella sp., Sphingomonas paucimobilis, Burkholderia sp. and Azorhizobium caulinodans, were increased. In land races of O. sativa, the diazotrophic diversity was equally high; however, Azoarcus sp. was found in high apparent numbers. Similar differences in populations were also observed in a culture-independent approach comparing a wild rice (O. officinalis) and a modern-type O. sativa plant: in clone libraries of root-associated nitrogenase (nifH) gene fragments, the diazotrophic diversity was lower in the wild rice species. New lineages of nifH genes were detected, e.g. one deeply branching cluster within the anf (iron) nitrogenases. Our studies demonstrate that the natural host range of Azoarcus spp. extends to rice, wild rice species and old varieties being preferred over modern cultivars.     

Simple sequence repeat analyses of interspecific hybrids and MAALs of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza </Emphasis><Emphasis Type="Italic">officinalis</Emphasis> and <Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza sativa</Emphasis>

Wild rice is a valuable resource for the genetic improvement of cultivated rice (Oryza sativa L., AA genome). Molecular markers are important tools for monitoring gene introgression from wild rice into cultivated rice. In this study, Simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to analyze interspecific hybrids of O. sativa-O. officinalis (CC genome), the backcrossing progenies and the parent plants. Results showed that most of the SSR primers (335 out of 396, 84.6%) developed in cultivated rice successfully amplified products from DNA samples of wild rice O. officinalis. The polymorphism ratio of SSR bands between O. sativa and O. officinalis was as high as 93.9%, indicating differences between the two species with respect to SSRs. When the SSR markers were applied in the interspecific hybrids, only a portion of SSR primers amplified O. officinalis-specific bands in the F(1) hybrid (52.5%), BC(1) (52.5%), and MAALs (37.0%); a number of the bands disappeared. Of the 124 SSR loci that detected officinalis-specific bands in MAAL plants, 96 (77.4%) showed synteny between the A and C-genomes, and 20 (16.1%) showed duplication in the C-genome. Sequencing analysis revealed that indels, substitution and duplication contribute to the diversity of SSR loci between the genomes of O. sativa and O. officinalis.     

稻属不同染色体组着丝粒BAC克隆的分离和鉴定

着丝粒在真核生物有丝分裂和减数分裂染色体正常的分离和传递中起着重要的作用。通过构建5个稻属二倍体野生种的基因组BAC文库, 采用菌落杂交和FISH技术, 筛选和鉴定了各染色体组着丝粒克隆, 并且分析了这些克隆在不同基因组间的共杂交情况, 结果表明: (1) C染色体组的野生种O. officinalis 和F染色体组的野生种O. brachyantha具有各自着丝粒特异的卫星DNA序列, 并且O. brachyantha着丝粒还具有特异的逆转座子序列; (2) A、B和E染色体组的野生稻O. glaberrima、O. punctata和O. australiensis着丝粒区域都含有与栽培稻着丝粒重复序列CentO和CRR同源的序列; (3) C染色体组野生稻O. officinalis的2条体细胞染色体着丝粒具有CentO的同源序列, 同时也发现其所有着丝粒区域都包含栽培稻CRR的同源序列。这些结果对克隆稻属不同染色体组的着丝粒序列、研究不同染色体组间着丝粒的进化关系和稻属不同着丝粒DNA序列与功能之间的关系均具有重要意义。     

水稻Pib基因及其连锁RFLP标记在栽培稻、药用野生稻和玉米中的比较物理定位

比较遗传学研究表明 ,禾本科不同基因组之间存在着广泛的同线性和共线性。对水稻 (OryzasativaL .)这一模式植物与其他禾本科植物的原位杂交定位可以揭示禾本科植物基因组的共同特点和进化规律 ,为建立禾本科遗传大体系积累资料。实验以图位克隆法分离的水稻Pib基因 (10 .3kb)和与之连锁的RFLP标记为探针 ,研究了Pib及与其连锁的RFLP标记在供试种中的同源性和物理位置。Southern杂交结果表明 ,Pib在玉米 (ZeamaysL .)基因组中有同源序列。进一步利用单色和双色荧光原位杂交技术确定了Pib在栽培稻 (O .sativassp .indicacv .Guangluai4)、玉米和药用野生稻 (O .officinalisWallexWatt)染色体上的物理位置。定位结果表明 ,Pib基因和与之连锁的RFLP标记在这 3个供试种基因组中具有同线性。     

一个嵌合型药用野生稻7号染色体单体附加系及其回交后代的分析

对一个药用野生稻(Oryza officinalis Wall ex Watt,基因组型CC)异源单体附加系(monosomic alien addition line,MAAL)及其回交后代进行了分析,应用分子标记技术确定了该异源单体附加系所附加的染色体是一条嵌合的7号染色体,药用野生稻贡献了其长臂部分,而短臂和着丝粒则来源于栽培稻。将该植株与栽培稻亲本回交,得到109株回交后代,考察了回交群体的主要农艺性状并进行了分子标记分析,发现野生稻染色体片段的渗入影响了回交后代的株高、千粒重、结实率、结实密度、叶宽等农艺性状,而且这些性状之间正相关度很大。     

Chloroplast genome sequence confirms distinctness of Australian and Asian wild rice

Cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) is an AA genome Oryza species that was most likely domesticated from wild populations of O. rufipogon in Asia. O. rufipogon and O. meridionalis are the only AA genome species found within Australia and occur as widespread populations across northern Australia. The chloroplast genome sequence of O. rufipogon from Asia and Australia and O. meridionalis and O. australiensis (an Australian member of the genus very distant from O. sativa) was obtained by massively parallel sequencing and compared with the chloroplast genome sequence of domesticated O. sativa. Oryza australiensis differed in more than 850 sites single nucleotide polymorphism or indel from each of the other samples. The other wild rice species had only around 100 differences relative to cultivated rice. The chloroplast genomes of Australian O. rufipogon and O. meridionalis were closely related with only 32 differences. The Asian O. rufipogon chloroplast genome (with only 68 differences) was closer to O. sativa than the Australian taxa (both with more than 100 differences). The chloroplast sequences emphasize the genetic distinctness of the Australian populations and their potential as a source of novel rice germplasm. The Australian O. rufipogon may be a perennial form of O. meridionalis.     

水稻Pib基因及其连锁RFLP标记在栽培稻、药用野生稻和玉米中的比较物理定位

比较遗传学研究表明,禾本科不同基因组之间存在着广泛的同线性和共线性.对水稻(Oryza sativa L.)这一模式植物与其他禾本科植物的原位杂交定位可以揭示禾本科植物基因组的共同特点和进化规律,为建立禾本科遗传大体系积累资料.实验以图位克隆法分离的水稻Pib 基因(10.3 kb)和与之连锁的RFLP标记为探针, 研究了Pib及与其连锁的RFLP标记在供试种中的同源性和物理位置. Southern杂交结果表明,Pib在玉米(Zea mays L.)基因组中有同源序列.进一步利用单色和双色荧光原位杂交技术确定了Pib在栽培稻(O.sativa ssp. indica cv. Guangluai 4)、玉米和药用野生稻(O. officinalis Wall ex Watt)染色体上的物理位置.定位结果表明,Pib基因和与之连锁的RFLP标记在这3个供试种基因组中具有同线性.     

Multilocus analysis of nucleotide variation of Oryza sativa and its wild relatives: severe bottleneck during domestication of rice

Varying degrees of reduction of genetic diversity in crops relative to their wild progenitors occurred during the process of domestication. Such information, however, has not been available for the Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) despite its importance as a staple food and a model organism. To reveal levels and patterns of nucleotide diversity and to elucidate the genetic relationship and demographic history of O. sativa and its close relatives (Oryza rufipogon and Oryza nivara), we investigated nucleotide diversity data from 10 unlinked nuclear loci in species-wide samples of these species. The results indicated that O. rufipogon and O. nivara possessed comparable levels of nucleotide variation ((sil) = 0.0077 approximately 0.0095) compared with the relatives of other crops. In contrast, nucleotide diversity of O. sativa was as low as (sil) = 0.0024 and even lower ((sil) = 0.0021 for indica and 0.0011 for japonica), if we consider the 2 subspecies separately. Overall, only 20-10% of the diversity in the wild species was retained in 2 subspecies of the cultivated rice (indica and japonica), respectively. Because statistic tests did not reject the assumption of neutrality for all 10 loci, we further used coalescent to simulate bottlenecks under various lengths and population sizes to better understand the domestication process. Consistent with the dramatic reduction in nucleotide diversity, we detected a severe domestication bottleneck and demonstrated that the sequence diversity currently found in the rice genome could be explained by a founding population of 1,500 individuals if the initial domestication event occurred over a 3,000-year period. Phylogenetic analyses revealed close genetic relationships and ambiguous species boundary of O. rufipogon and O. nivara, providing additional evidence to treat them as 2 ecotypes of a single species. Lowest linkage disequilibrium (LD) was found in the perennial O. rufipogon where the r(2) value dropped to a negligible level within 400 bp, and the highest in the japonica rice where LD extended to the entirely sequenced region ( approximately 900 bp), implying that LD mapping by genome scans may not be feasible in wild rice due to the high density of markers needed.     

Genetic diversity and phylogenetic relationship in AA Oryza species as revealed by Rim2/Hipa CACTA transposon display

CACTA is a class 2 transposon, that is very abundantly present in plant genomes. Using Rim2/Hipa CACTA transposon display (hereafter Rim2/Hipa-TD), we analyzed several A-genome diploid Oryza species that have a high distribution of the CACTA motifs. High levels of polymorphism were detected within and between the Oryza species. The African taxa, O. glaberrima and O. barthii, both showed lower levels of polymorphism than the Asian taxa, O. sativa, O. rufipogon, and O. nivara. However, O. longistaminata, another African taxon, showed levels of polymorphism that were similar to the Asian taxa. The Latin American taxon, O. glumaepatula, and the Australian taxon, O. meridionalis, exhibited intermediate levels of polymorphism between those of the Asian and African taxa. The lowest level of polymorphism was observed in O. glaberrima (32.1%) and the highest level of polymorphism was observed in O. rufipogon (95.7%). The phylogenetic tree revealed three major groups at the genetic similarity level of 0.409. The first group consisted of three Asian taxa, O. sativa, O. rufipogon and O. nivara. The second group consisted of three African taxa, O. glaberrima, O. barthii, O. longistaminata, and an American taxon, O. glumaepatula. The third group contained an Australian taxon, O. meridionalis. The clustering patterns of these species matched well with their geographical origins. Rim2/Hipa-TD appears to be a useful marker system for studying the genetic diversity and species relationships among the AA diploid Oryza species.     

A new MITE family,Pangrangja, in Gramineae species

The miniature inverted-repeat transposable element (MITE) is a type of class II transposon. We have isolated a new MITE, Pangrangja, from the species Oryza. Although Pangrangja elements are present in a number of Gramineae species, they are more prevalent in A genome Oryza species, Triticum, Aegilops, Hordeum, and Tripsacum. The Pangrangja has a 16 bp terminal inverted repeat (TIR) and conserved trinucleotides 5'-TTG-3' and 5'-AAA-3' at both ends. The TIR starts with 5'-CAGT-3', similar to the MITEs of the Emigrant family. The sequences between TIRs are very AT-rich and vary in length from 161 bp in A genome Oryza species to 513 bp in Hordeum vulgare. While the size and sequence of Pangrangia elements are conserved in the A genome Oryza species, there is some sequence variation in other plants. In an analysis of the mobile history of Oryza sativa, eight RESites (related to empty sites) were found and grouped into three types depending on the presence or absence of the conserved trinucleotides 5'-TTG-3' and 5'-AAA-3'. Since one of the RESites showed a perfect palindromic 22 bp sequence into which 180 bp of the Pangrangja element was inserted, the possible role of secondary structure of the palindromic sequences is discussed. We also suggest that as Pangrangja MITE-AFLP has been successful in many different Gramineae, Pangrangja elements may be useful in the genomic analysis of grasses.     

Genetic differentiation of wild relatives of rice as assessed by RFLP analysis

To study genetic diversity and relationships of wild relatives of rice, 58 accessions of Oryza rufipogon, Oryza nivara, Oryza sativa f. spontanea and the cultivated Oryza sativa, representing a wide range of their distribution, were analyzed using the restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) technique. All 30-used RFLP probes detected polymorphisms among the Oryza accessions, with an average of 3.8 polymorphic fragments per probe. Considerable genetic diversity was scored among the Oryza accessions with a similarity coefficient ranging from 0.28 to 0.93; but the cluster analysis of the accessions did not show an apparent grouping based on the species classification, instead they were scattered randomly in different groups. Noticeably, the Oryza accessions from the same geographic region, or near-by geographic regions, tended to be clustered in the same groups. The indica rice varieties showed relatively high genetic diversity and were scattered in different groups of their wild relatives, but the japonica varieties showed a relatively low variation and formed an independent group. It is concluded from the molecular analytical result that: (1) the four Oryza taxa have a remarkably close relationship and their independent species status need to be carefully reviewed; (2) geographic isolation has played a significant role in the differentiation of the Oryza accessions; therefore, a wide geographic range needs to be covered in collecting wild rice germplasm for ex situ conservation; and (3) the conventional conclusion of indica rice being directly domesticated from its ancestral wild species, and japonica rice being derived from indica, gains support from our data.     

利用多基因序列探讨稻属药稻复合体二倍体物种的系统发育关系

稻属药稻复合体Oryza officinalis complex中有5个二倍体物种,涉及B、C和E3个染色体组,分布在亚洲、非洲和大洋洲。其中,O.australiensis是稻属中惟一含E染色体组的物种;O.punctata则是惟一含B染色体组的物种。虽然O.officinalis、O.rhizomatis和O.eichingeri都含C染色体组,但由于它们间断分布在亚洲和非洲,可能在稻属异源多倍体成种中发挥了不同作用。染色体组B、C和E之间,以及上述二倍体物种之间的系统发育关系及其在稻属多倍体物种形成     

A chromosome-level genome assembly of the wild rice Oryza rufipogon facilitates tracing the origins of Asian cultivated rice

Oryza rufipogon Griff. is a wild progenitor of the Asian cultivated rice Oryza sativa. To better understand the genomic diversity of the wild rice, high-quality reference genomes of O. rufipogon populations are needed, which also facilitate utilization of the wild genetic resources in rice breeding. In this study, we generated a chromosome-level genome assembly of O. rufipogon using a combination of short-read sequencing, single-molecule sequencing, BioNano and Hi-C platforms. The genome sequence(399.8 Mb) was assembled into 46 scaffolds on the 12 chromosomes, with contig N50 and scaffold N50 of 13.2 Mb and 20.3 Mb,respectively. The genome contains 36,520 protein-coding genes, and 49.37% of the genome consists of repetitive elements. The genome has strong synteny with those of the O. sativa subspecies indica and japonica, but containing some large structural variations. Evolutionary analysis unveiled the polyphyletic origins of O. sativa, in which the japonica and indica genome formations involved different divergent O. rufipogon(including O. nivara) lineages, accompanied by introgression of genomic regions between japonica and indica. This high-quality reference genome provides insight on the genome evolution of the wild rice and the origins of the O. sativa subspecies, and valuable information for basic research and rice breeding.     

Phylogenetic relationships in the genus Oryza based on mitochondrial RFLPs.

Restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) of mitochondrial DNA in the genus Oryza was surveyed using 20 accessions including 11 species and a single endonuclease, EcoRI. RFLPs were visualized by Southern hybridization with eight rice mitochondrial DNA probes labeled non-radioactively with digoxigenin-dUTP. A total of 66 bands were obtained from all of the accessions. The total number of fragments per plant was higher in diploid A-genome species (an average of 35.3) than that in diploid B- and C-genome species and allotetraploid BC- and CD-genome species (an average of 28.2). The extent of the polymorphism in the RFLP patterns was various depending on the probes used. A diverse polymorphism was observed with most of the probes used, i.e. the cob, cox I, atp6, rrn18, rrn26 and atp9 regions, whereas, no polymorphic band was observed with a probe for the coxII region. The genus Oryza was separated into two large clusters. One cluster was comprised of A-genome species and the other cluster was comprised of B-, BC-, C-, and CD- genome species. Within A-genome species, the genetic variation was relatively high. Even in O. sativa species, the RFLP patterns of japonica and indica subspecies were clearly different from each other when three probes were used. However, there was no polymorphism between O. glaberrima and O. barthii. Within the genomes of B, BC, C, and CD, RFLP patterns were similar to each other and they showed a closer affinity except for O. minuta (BBCC). Within the BC genome species, the patterns of O. punctata and O. minuta were largely different from each other and separated into two different subclusters. Thus, the mitochondrial genomes of the two BC species (O. punctata and O. minuta) apparently evolved independently. Among CD genome species (O. latifolia and O. alta), the patterns of one accession, O. alta W0017 were largely different from those of the other accessions of CD genome species.     

中国稻属植物叶片亚显微结构比较研究

用扫描电镜对原产中国的3种野生稻和2个栽培稻品种的叶片表面亚显微结构,尤其是气孔列数、气孔频度、气孔器乳突、大瘤状乳突、小栓细胞乳突等进行比较研究。结果显示,气孔频度的变化趋势是沿着疣粒野生稻-药用野生稻-栽培稻IR36-簿通野生稻-栽培稻珍汕97逐渐增大,其变化幅度在635-1737个／mm^2之间;气孔器乳突除疣粒野生稻为6个外,其余通常为4个;疣粒野生稻既无大瘤状乳突亦无木栓细胞乳突．药用野生稻无木栓细胞乳突。这些性状不仅具什种的特异性,而且与亲缘关系远近有关,可以作为稻属分类的依据。     

Diversity in the Content of Some Nutritional Components in Husked Seeds of Three Wild Rice Species and Rice Varieties in Yunnan Province of China

In addition to rice (Oryza sativa L.) cultivars, there are three wild rice species, namely O.rufipogon Griff, O. officinalis Wall and O. granulata Baill, in Yunnan Province, China. Each species has different subtypes and ecological distributions. Yunnan wild rice species are excellent genetic resources for developing new rice cultivars. The nutritional components of the husked seeds of wild rice have not been investigated thus far. Herein, we report on the contents of total protein, starch, amylose, 17 amino acids, and five macro and five trace mineral elements in husked seeds from three wild rice species and six O. sativa cultivars. The mean (± SD) protein content in the husked rice of O. rufipogon, O. officinalis, and O. granulata was (14.5 ± 0.6)%, (16.3 ± 1. 1)%, and (15.3 ± 0.5)%, respectively. O. officinalis Ⅲ originating from Gengma had the highest protein content (19.3%). In contrast, the average protein content of six O. sativa cultivars was only 9.15%. The total content of 17 amino acids of three wild rice species was 30%-50% higher than that of the six cultivars. Tyrosine, lysine, and valine content in the three wild rice species was 34%-209% higher than that of the cultivars. However, the difference in total starch content among different O. sativa varieties or types of wild rice species was very small. The average amylose content of O. rufipogon, O. officinalis,and O. granulata was 12.0%, 9.7%, and 11.3%, respectively, much lower than that of the indica and japonica varieties (14.37%-17.17%) but much higher than that of the glutinous rice cultivars (3.89%). The sulfur, phosphorus, magnesium, zinc, and ferrite content in the three wild rice species was 30%-158% higher than that of the six cultivars. The considerable difference in some nutritional components among wild rice species and O. sativa cultivars represents a wide biodiversity of Yunnan Oryza species. Based on the results of the present study, it is predicted that some good genetic traits, especially high protein and ideal amylose content, of Yunnan wild rice species may be useful in improving the nutritional value of rice. This is the first report regarding the amino acid, mineral element, protein and amylose content of husked seeds of some Yunnan wild rice species that have important genetic characteristics for rice quality and nutritional value.