The transition from the prostrate growth of ancestral wild rice (O. rufipogon Griff.) to the erect growth of Oryza sativa cultivars was one of the most critical events in rice domestication. This evolutionary step importantly improved plant architecture and increased grain yield. Here we find that prostrate growth of wild rice from Yuanjiang County in China is controlled by a semi-dominant gene, PROG1 (PROSTRATE GROWTH 1), on chromosome 7 that encodes a single Cys(2)-His(2) zinc-finger protein. prog1 variants identified in O. sativa disrupt the prog1 function and inactivate prog1 expression, leading to erect growth, greater grain number and higher grain yield in cultivated rice. Sequence comparison shows that 182 varieties of cultivated rice, including 87 indica and 95 japonica cultivars from 17 countries, carry identical mutations in the prog1 coding region that may have become fixed during rice domestication.

Common wild rice (Oryza rufipogon), the wild relative of Asian cultivated rice (Oryza sativa), flaunts long, barbed awns, which are necessary for efficient propagation and dissemination of seeds. By contrast, O. sativa cultivars have been selected to be awnless or to harbor short, barbless awns, which facilitate seed processing and storage. The transition from long, barbed awns to short, barbless awns was a crucial event in rice domestication. Here, we show that the presence of long, barbed awns in wild rice is controlled by a major gene on chromosome 4, LONG AND BARBED AWN1 (LABA1), which encodes a cytokinin-activating enzyme. A frame-shift deletion in LABA1 of cultivated rice reduces the cytokinin concentration in awn primordia, disrupting barb formation and awn elongation. Sequencing analysis demonstrated low nucleotide diversity and a selective sweep encompassing an ;800-kb region around the derived laba1 allele in cultivated rice. Haplotype analysis revealed that the laba1 allele originated in the japonica subspecies and moved into the indica gene pool via introgression, suggesting that humans selected for this locus in early rice domestication. Identification of LABA1 provides new insights into rice domestication and also sheds light on the molecular mechanism underlying awn development.

Climate change affects agricultural productivity worldwide. Increased prices of food commodities are the initial indication of drastic edible yield loss, which is expected to increase further due to global warming. This situation has compelled plant scientists to develop climate change-resilient crops, which can withstand broad-spectrum stresses such as drought, heat, cold, salinity, flood, submergence and pests, thus helping to deliver increased productivity. Genomics appears to be a promising tool for deciphering the stress responsiveness of crop species with adaptation traits or in wild relatives toward identifying underlying genes, alleles or quantitative trait loci. Molecular breeding approaches have proven helpful in enhancing the stress adaptation of crop plants, and recent advances in high-throughput sequencing and phenotyping platforms have transformed molecular breeding to genomics-assisted breeding (GAB). In view of this, the present review elaborates the progress and prospects of GAB for improving climate change resilience in crops, which is likely to play an ever increasing role in the effort to ensure global food security.

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SummaryAgriculture is now facing the ‘perfect storm’ of climate change, increasing costs of fertilizer and rising food demands from a larger and wealthier human population. These factors point to a global food deficit unless the efficiency and resilience of crop production is increased. The intensification of agriculture has focused on improving production under optimized conditions, with significant agronomic inputs. Furthermore, the intensive cultivation of a limited number of crops has drastically narrowed the number of plant species humans rely on. A new agricultural paradigm is required, reducing dependence on high inputs and increasing crop diversity, yield stability and environmental resilience. Genomics offers unprecedented opportunities to increase crop yield, quality and stability of production through advanced breeding strategies, enhancing the resilience of major crops to climate variability, and increasing the productivity and range of minor crops to diversify the food supply. Here we review the state of the art of genomic‐assisted breeding for the most important staples that feed the world, and how to use and adapt such genomic tools to accelerate development of both major and minor crops with desired traits that enhance adaptation to, or mitigate the effects of climate change.