''Coix'' is a

genus Genus (; : genera ) is a taxonomic rank above species and below family (taxonomy), family as used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In bino ...

Asia Asia ( , ) is the largest continent in the world by both land area and population. It covers an area of more than 44 million square kilometres, about 30% of Earth's total land area and 8% of Earth's total surface area. The continent, which ...

n and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

n plants in the

grass family Poaceae ( ), also called Gramineae ( ), is a large and nearly ubiquitous family of monocotyledonous flowering plants commonly known as grasses. It includes the cereal grasses, bamboos, the grasses of natural grassland and species cultivated in ...

. The best-known species is '' Coix lacryma-jobi,'' widely called

Job's tears Job's tears (''Coix lacryma-jobi''), also known as adlay or adlay millet, is a tall grain-bearing perennial tropical plant of the family Poaceae (grass family). It is native to Southeast Asia and introduced to Northern China and India in remote ...

. Its variety ''Coix lacryma-jobi'' var. ''ma-yuen'' is cultivated in many warm regions as a source of food, medicine, and ornamentation. The generic name is from Ancient Greek κόϊξ (''koix''), which originally referred to the doum palm (''

Hyphaene thebaica ''Hyphaene'' is a genus of palms native to Africa, Madagascar, the Middle East, and the Indian subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay ...

''); the fruits of the doum palm resemble the

diaspore Diaspore ()also called diasporite, empholite, kayserite, or tanatariteis an aluminium hydroxide oxide mineral, α-AlO(OH), crystallizing in the orthorhombic system and isomorphous with goethite. It occurs sometimes as flattened crystals, but ...

s of ''Coix''.

Species

*'' Coix aquatica'' Roxb. -

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

(

Yunnan Yunnan; is an inland Provinces of China, province in Southwestern China. The province spans approximately and has a population of 47.2 million (as of 2020). The capital of the province is Kunming. The province borders the Chinese provinces ...

Guangdong ) means "wide" or "vast", and has been associated with the region since the creation of Guang Prefecture in AD 226. The name "''Guang''" ultimately came from Guangxin ( zh, labels=no, first=t, t= , s=广信), an outpost established in Han dynasty ...

Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...

Indian Subcontinent The Indian subcontinent is a physiographic region of Asia below the Himalayas which projects into the Indian Ocean between the Bay of Bengal to the east and the Arabian Sea to the west. It is now divided between Bangladesh, India, and Pakista ...

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia (historically known as Indochina and the Indochinese Peninsula) is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to th ...

Peninsular Malaysia Peninsular Malaysia, historically known as Malaya and also known as West Malaysia or the Malaysian Peninsula, is the western part of Malaysia that comprises the southern part of the Malay Peninsula on Mainland Southeast Asia and the list of isla ...

; naturalized in

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

*'' Coix gasteenii'' B.K.Simon - northern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

*'' Coix lacryma-jobi'' L. -

Southeast Asia Southeast Asia is the geographical United Nations geoscheme for Asia#South-eastern Asia, southeastern region of Asia, consisting of the regions that are situated south of China, east of the Indian subcontinent, and northwest of the Mainland Au ...

; naturalized in other parts of Asia as well as in southern

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent after Asia. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 20% of Earth's land area and 6% of its total surfac ...

, the

Americas The Americas, sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North America and South America.''Webster's New World College Dictionary'', 2010 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio. When viewed as a sing ...

, and various oceanic islands

Formerly Included

see '' Chionachne

Polytoca ''Polytoca'' is a genus of Indomalayan and Australasian plants in the grass family. Species 11 species are accepted. *'' Polytoca biaurita'' – Philippines (Luzon) *'' Polytoca cyathopoda'' – New Guinea and northern Australia *''Polytoc ...

Tripsacum ''Tripsacum'' is a genus of plants in the Poaceae, grass family and native to the Western Hemisphere. Gamagrass is a common name for plants in this genus. Species References: Formerly included Reference: See ''Anthephora''; ''Apluda''; ''Ch ...

Formerly included in

This genus was formerly placed in the Maydeae, now known to be polyphyletic.p.331, "Maize and ''Tripsacum'' were previously grouped with a number of other grasses that have monoecious flowering patterns the most widely known being Job’s tears (''Coix lacryma-jobi'') into the Maydeae (74); however, molecular data revealed that this grouping was polyphyletic (61)."

Proteins and expression

Members of this genus produce their own variety of α-zein

prolamin Prolamins are a group of plant storage proteins having a high proline amino acid content. They are found in plants, mainly in the seeds of cereal grains such as wheat ( gliadin), barley ( hordein), rye ( secalin), corn ( zein), sorghum ( kafiri ...

s. These prolamins have undergone unusually rapid evolutionary divergence from closely related grasses, by way of copy-number changes.p.335, "Clusters of locally duplicated genes can also expand and contract rapidly, as shown by investigation of the 22-kDa α zein gene families in maize, sorghum, and coix, which appear to have experienced independent copy-number amplifications since the divergence of these three species (107)."

References

External links

The World Online Grass Flora Grassbase: ''Coix''
Poaceae genera Taxa named by Carl Linnaeus Andropogoneae {{medicinal-plant-stub