The paper:
J. Yu et al., "The genomes of Oryza sativa: a history of duplications," PLoS Biol, 3: e38, 2005. (Cited in 74 papers)
The finding:
Using computational programs developed at the Beijing Genomics Institute, Jun Yu led a team that improved the genome assemblies of both indica and japonica rice cultivars and compared the genomes to understand its evolutionary history.
The surprise:
Duplicated segments account for 65.7% of the genome. That was more than expected, says Pat Heslop-Harrison at the University of Leicester: "We thought the duplication of genes as well as repeats could not be easily coped with and would lead to genomic imbalances."
The follow-up:
Yu's team is now using microarrays to look at hybrid rice strains and compare them to parental cultivars. A better understanding of hybrid rice is important, according to Yu, because it has 20 to 25% higher yield than its parent.
The future:
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