Abstract
We annotated the complete genome sequence of Oryza sativa ssp. japonica by using the cDNAs obtained from the DNA databanks. The annotations were first conducted by automated methods, and subsequently curated during an annotation jamboree (The Rice Annotation Project Meeting), in which we examined all the functional descriptions of the rice genes. The information of the annotations is available through the RAP-DB. To elucidate the evolutionary process of the rice genome, we compared the rice open reading frames determined in the curation with those of Arabidopsis. As a result, we found that these remotely-related species possess a similar set of proteins and protein domains, although the two species have undergone a number of independent duplication events during long-term evolution. Additionally, a comparative analysis of wild and cultivated rice species is presented.
