Rice is one of the most important crops on the planet, responsible for feeding billions of people. Given this global significance, studying rice in different geographies can be useful and aid in harnessing genetic diversity underlying particular traits and adaptations favorable to different environments. African rice (Oryza glaberrima Steud.) is mainly grown in sub-Saharan Africa and known for its stress tolerance. In a new article this week in Nature Genetics, Michael Purugannan and colleagues report the whole genome re-sequencing of 93 African rice landraces from various regions of Western coastal and sub-Saharan Africa. They create a genome-wide SNP map and through comparative genomic analysis study the domestication and population history of African rice. They use their map to perform GWAS for salt tolerance and find 11 significantly associated regions, highlighting the value of this unique genetic resource.  Read more