Abstract
Vegetatively propagated crops are globally significant in terms of current agricultural production, as well as for understanding the long-term history of early agriculture and plant domestication. Today, significant field crops include sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), potato (Solanum tuberosum), manioc (Manihot esculenta), bananas and plantains (Musa cvs), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), yams (Dioscorea spp.) and taro (Colocasia esculenta). In comparison with sexually reproduced crops, especially cereals and legumes, the domestication syndrome in vegetatively propagated field crops is poorly defined. Here, a range of phenotypic traits potentially comprising a syndrome associated with early domestication of vegetatively propagated field crops is proposed, including: mode of reproduction, yield of edible portion, ease of harvesting, defensive adaptations, timing of production and plant architecture. The archaeobotanical visibility of these syndrome traits is considered with a view to the reconstruction of the geographical and historical pathways of domestication for vegetatively propagated field crops in the past. Although convergent phenotypic traits are identified, none of them are ubiquitous and some are divergent. In contrast to cereals and legumes, several traits seem to represent varying degrees of plastic response to growth environment and practices of cultivation, as opposed to solely morphogenetic 'fixation'.
Highlights
Propagated crops are globally significant in terms of current agricultural production, as well as in terms of understanding the long-term history of early agriculture and plant domestication
A range of phenotypic traits potentially comprising a syndrome associated with early domestication of vegetatively-propagated field crops is proposed, including: mode of reproduction, yield of edible portion, ease of harvesting, defensive adaptations, timing of production and plant architecture
The archaeobotanical visibility of these syndrome traits is considered with a view to the reconstruction of the geographical and historical pathways of domestication for vegetatively-propagated field crops in the past
Summary
And later forms of agriculture vary in their reliance on sexual and asexual modes of reproduction (Figure 1; Sauer 1952; Harlan 1971; Harris 1977; Ladizinsky 1998; Piperno and Pearsall 1998; Zohary and Hopf 2000; Denham et al 2007). Clear physical changes in morphological architectures associated with reproduction and propagation, namely nonshattering rachis of barley (Hordeum vulgare; Figure 2), wheat (Triticum spp.; Tanno and Wilcox 2012) rice (Oryza sativa; Fuller et al 2009; Barron et al 2017) or sorghum (Winchell et al 2017), as well as the rapid evolution of the cob in maize (Zea mays; Piperno and Pearsall 1998; Stitzer and Ross-Ibarra 2018), have been documented. Farming emerged in several regions based on the vegetative-propagation of staple crops that today are globally significant, most notably the Americas – manioc (M. esculenta), potato (S. tuberosum) and sweet potato (I. batatas) (Ugent and Peterson 1988; Piperno and Pearsall 1998) - and the Indo-Pacific region extending from eastern India to New Guinea – aroids (Aracaeae), bananas (Musa cvs.), sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum) and yams (Dioscorea spp.) (Burkill 1935; Li 1970; Yen 1973). Most interpretations rely heavily on genetic inferences from modern populations with only limited archaeobotanical support, such as for manioc (Wang et al 2014), potato (Hardigan et al 2017), taro (Chaïr et al 2016) and some yams (Scarcelli et al 2019); an exception is the banana which is present in many archaeological phytolith records (Figure 2; Perrier et al 2011)
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