Topic ID #8073 - posted 7/9/2010 7:14 PM
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
What plant genes tell us about crop domestication
Jennifer Palmer
Webmaster
Simple genetic changes make plants suitable for cultivation, but domestication wasn't always quick or easy.
July 7, 2010
By Diana Lutz
Anyone who has seen teosinte, the wild grass from which maize (corn) evolved, might be forgiven for assuming many genetic changes underlie the transformation of one plant to the other.
The famous botanist George Beadle created a facsimile of an ear of an early domesticated corn (right) by crossing the wild grass teosinte (left) with Argentine popcorn.
However, a method for exploring the genetics of domestication called Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) mapping has revealed that only modest modifications are needed to convert a wild plant to a crop plant. Some major transitions in phenotype can even be achieved by a single genetic change.
The few artificial experiments in domestication that have been conducted have also shown that it is possible to achieve domesticate-like plants in fewer than 20 generations.
None of this pleases archaeobotanists, who try to piece together the history of plant domestication from scraps of ancient plant remains.
Read the rest of the article here.
July 7, 2010
By Diana Lutz
Anyone who has seen teosinte, the wild grass from which maize (corn) evolved, might be forgiven for assuming many genetic changes underlie the transformation of one plant to the other.
The famous botanist George Beadle created a facsimile of an ear of an early domesticated corn (right) by crossing the wild grass teosinte (left) with Argentine popcorn.
However, a method for exploring the genetics of domestication called Quantitative Trait Locus (QTL) mapping has revealed that only modest modifications are needed to convert a wild plant to a crop plant. Some major transitions in phenotype can even be achieved by a single genetic change.
The few artificial experiments in domestication that have been conducted have also shown that it is possible to achieve domesticate-like plants in fewer than 20 generations.
None of this pleases archaeobotanists, who try to piece together the history of plant domestication from scraps of ancient plant remains.
Read the rest of the article here.
Post ID#17852 - replied 7/10/2010 10:34 AM
marehart
These stories nearly always seem to confuse gene selection with mutation. The genetics guys can be usefull, but must be carefully watched that they don't go "over the hill" with some delusion of grandeur.
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