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Comments from Don Kasarda, Albany, CA
 
I am not personally knowledgeable about wild rice, but my previous statement
still stands as follows:
 
"At least according to Hitchcock, Manual of the Grasses of the United States
1950, wild rice belongs to the tribe Zizanieae whereas oats belongs to the
tribe Aveneae.  I see no obvious relationship between wild rice and oats in
Hitchcock's taxonomy."
 
Furthermore, in Hitchcock's taxonomy, wheat, rye, and barley are in Tribe 3,
oats in Tribe 4, rice in Tribe 9, while Zizanieae is the name of Tribe 10,
millets are mostly in Tribe 12, sorghum is in Tribe 13, and maize (corn) in
Tribe 14.  The tribe number in taxonomy has a limited relationship to
evolutionary relationship, but it is moderately safe to say that species
with neighboring tribe numbers are more likely to be closely related than
those with more distant numbers. Of course, taxonomies are not perfect, but
in the absence of detailed molecular analysis of all possible proteins from
all possible species, which we are not likely to have in the foreseeable
future, they are about the best we have to go on.
 
On the basis of Hitchcock's taxonomy then, I would say that wild rice and
rice are moderately closely related (approximately as close as wheat is to
oats), but both are fairly distant in relationship to wheat, rye, barley,
and oats.
 
As usual, there is always a potential for contamination with wheat (as
someone else pointed out) and there is always the problem of human
sensitivity (of a different type from that responsible for celiac disease)
to many different components of the diet.  Some people are allergic to rice
and corn and probably some are allergic to wild rice as well, possibly
through IgE immunoglobulin-mediated responses (celiac disease does not seem
to involve IgE antibodies in any fundamental way and may somewhat
arbitrarily be distinguished from an allergy in that respect).
 
This is not meant to be medical advice. I am a wheat protein chemist, not an
immunologist. Perhaps someone specializing in immunology will comment on the
question of allergy vs. celiac disease and the extent to which they can be
distinguished. If any taxonomists read the list, they may wish to comment on
my interpretation of tribal relationships within the grass family
(Gramineae)