Oryza alta cultivar:wild allotetraploid rice Genome sequencing

Modern cultivated rice (Oryza sativa) as one of the most important staple cereals are all diploid, and polyploidization of rice is long-desired for superior advantages in increasing yield, genome buffering, heterosis and adaptive potential to rapid environmental changes. However, the workable route to achieve this goal remains unknown. Here, we reported an alternative practical strategy of de novo domestication of wild allotetraploid rice, O. alta. By screening the nature resources of wild allotetraploid rice, we identified one ecotype of O. alta, Polyploid Rice 1 (PPR1), of which an efficient generation and genome editing system was established, and we then assembled its genome into 24 high-quality chromosomes with discriminated homeologous subgenomes. Furthermore, we generated new allotetraploid rice fertilizable in northern China by editing the homologous genes controlling heading date in diploid rice. Our results demonstrated that de novo domesticated allotetraploid rice could be developed into a new staple cereal contributing to the security of world food.