Iron is important for plants but can be hard to get. Rice plants have a special way to get iron called the Combined Strategy. Scientists studied how rice and its wild ancestor respond to low iron. They found genes for both Strategies I and II in both plants. This strategy is not just in rice but also in related plants like maize and sorghum. The Combined Strategy likely developed when the Oryza genus split. This means rice plants were already good at getting iron before they were domesticated.