Soluble starch synthases (SSs) elongate α-glucans from ADP-Glc to the glucan nonreducing ends and play a critical role in synthesizing resistant starch in the rice. A total of 10 SSs isoforms were reported in rice, including granules-bound starch synthase I (GBSSI), GBSSII, starch synthase I (SSI), SSIIa (SSII-3), SSIIb (SSII-2), SSIIc (SSII-1), SSIIIa (SSIII-2), SSIIIb (SSIII-1), SSIVa (SSIV-1), and SSIVb (SSIV-2). SSIII proteins are involved in forming the B chain and elongating cluster filling chains in amylopectin metabolism. The functions of SSIIIb (SSIII-1) are less clear as compared to SSs. Here, we sought to shed light on the genetic diversity profiling of the SSIII-1 gene in 374 rice accessions composed of 54 wild-type accessions and 320 bred cultivars (temperate japonica, indica, tropical japonica, aus, aromatic, and admixture). In total, 17 haplotypes were identified in the SSIII-1 coding region of 320 bred cultivars, while 44 haplotypes were detected from 54 wild-type accessions. The genetic diversity indices revealed the most negative Tajima's D value in the temperate-japonica, followed by the wild type, while Tajima's D values in other ecotypes were positive, indicating balancing selection. Nucleotide diversity in the SSIII-1 region was highest in the wild group (0.0047) while lowest in temperate-japonica. Lower nucleotide diversity in the temperate-japonica is evidenced by the negative Tajima's D and suggested purifying selection. The fixation index (FST) revealed a very high level of gene flow (low FST) between the tropical-japonica and admixture groups (FST=-0.21) followed by admixture and wild groups (-0.04), indica and admixture groups (0.02), while low gene flow with higher FST estimates between the temperate-japonica and aus groups (0.72), tropical-japonica and aromatic groups (0.71), and temperate-japonica and admixture groups (0.52). Taken together, our study offers insights into haplotype diversity and evolutionary fingerprints of SSIII-1. It provides genomic information to increase the resistant starch content of cooked rice.
This work was supported by National Research Foundation of Korea (NRF) grants by the Korean government (MSIT) (No. NRF-2022R1A4A1030348), "Cooperative Research Program for Agriculture Science and Technology Development" (Project No. PJ015935) of the Rural Development Administration, and Korea Institute of Planning and Evaluation for Technology in Food, Agriculture and Forestry (IPET), Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (MAFRA)(322060031HD020).