The genetic control of long sterile lemma during African rice domestication

• The first long sterile lemma gene lsl3 of African cultivated rice was reported. • The geographical distribution analysis of the lsl3 haplotypes provides a reference for the molecular evolution of African cultivated rice. • The key mutations comparison of lsl3 between African cultivated rice and Asian cultivated rice provides new evidence for the parallel domestication of rice and the independent origin of African cultivated rice. The inflorescence and spikelet structural units of rice significantly impact grain development. Among the grasses, the sterile lemma represents a unique spikelet organ exclusive to rice. As most studies on sterile lemma genes primarily focus on Asian cultivated rice ( Oryza sativa L.), genes influencing the sterile lemma phenotype in African rice remain unreported. This study identified a gene, lsl3 , located on the short arm of chromosome 7, which controlled the sterile lemma length in African rice. The key mutation of lsl3 leading to long sterile lemmas in African rice was discovered and differed from that in Asian rice. The investigation of lsl3 not only provides a reference for the molecular evolution of cultivated rice in Africa but also offers new evidence supporting the parallel domestication of rice and the independent origin of O. glaberrima .