Oaxaca Mexico Research Articles

Patterns of population structure in maize landraces from the Central Valleys of Oaxaca in Mexico.

Assessing the impact of farmer management of maize landraces in the Central Valleys of Oaxaca, Mexico is crucial to an understanding of maize evolution, as it was first domesticated there. In this paper, we report on the impact of traditional farmer management of maize populations in this region in structuring molecular diversity and on the population dynamics of maize landraces. These populations, from a sample of local landraces cultivated by farmers in six villages, show little among-population differentiation (Fst=0.011). Most surprisingly, there is no isolation by distance and small among-village differentiation (Fst=0.003). For an outbreeding plant such as maize, one would expect populations to fit Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium, but significant homozygote excess (Fis=0.13) was found. This homozygote excess shows remarkable interpopulation and interlocus differences. We show that this pattern is related to variation in the mean anthesis-silking interval as well as to the flowering range or heterogeneity in flowering of a given population. A short anthesis-silking interval and high level of heterogeneity in flowering precocity will favor assortative mating. This leads to a locus-dependent population substructure giving an unusual case of Wahlund effect and inbreeding while high levels of seed exchange among farmers prevent population differentiation at both village and regional levels.

Zapotec Science: Farming and Food in the Northern Sierra of Oaxaca (review)

Zapotec Science is an absorbing anthropological study of a contemporary farming community in the village of Talea de Castro, in the Rincón region of the Northern Sierra Oaxaca in Mexico. Roberto González studies agricultural work and how the people of this Zapotec community integrate their subsistence-oriented agricultural practices and beliefs with a self-consciously constrained relationship with wider markets. He explores Taleans' subsistence practices, especially the cultivation of maize and smallholder production of sugar cane and coffee, which are grown for local use and sale. The conceptual theme that unites all production and consumption of food in the village is mantenimiento, or household maintenance.

Nutritional Value of Edible Insects from the State of Oaxaca, Mexico

Seventy-eight species of edible insects, representing twenty-three families from the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, were analyzed for nutrient composition. They include the orders of Anoplura, Diptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Homoptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, and Hymenoptera. The dry basis protein content ranged from 15 to 81%. The highest was found in a wasp of the genusPolybia.Fat content ranged from 4.2% (several grasshopper species:Boopedon flaviventris, Sphenarium sp., Melanoplus mexicanus) to 77.2% in the larvae of a butterflyPhasus triangularis.The insect richest in carbohydrates was the antMyrmecosistus melligerwith 77.7%. The amino acid profile of the studied insects compares with the preschooler and adult requirements indicated in 1985 by the F.A.O. and the W.H.O. Their protein chemical score (corresponding to the capacity for fulfilling the requirement of the most limiting essential amino acid) ranged from 46 to 96%; in a few cases there were deficiences of tryptophan and lysine. Protein digestibility varied between 76 and 98% for the species analyzed. The caloric contribution varied from 293 to 762 kcal/100 g, the highest value also being for the butterfly larvae ofPhasus triangularis.Constituting a significant component of the diet of some rural communities in Oaxaca, consumption parameters vary depending on the species, season, habitat, climate, and biotope. Eaten daily in some regions, insects are roasted, fried, or incorporated into a ragout dish, generally in the immature stage. Hymenoptera (ants, bees, and wasps) are preferred for consumption.

Purification and partial characterization of a new anti-A1 lectin of Phaseolus coccineus collected in Oaxaca, Mexico.

It is well known that Phaseolus species contains lectins of various specificities 1-4. Runner bean5 and different varieties of Ph.coccineus described by Ochoa et al6, are not specific to human blood groups. They react indistinctly with erythrocytes of the ABO system. However the lectin of Ph. lunatus (lima bean)7 is specific to the blood group type A, a classic example of that specificity. Sometime ago, we discovered a new lectin in a variety of edible bean of Ph. coccineus in the flora of the state of Oaxaca in Mexico, cultivated exclusively in the small community of Jamiltepec, near the Pacific coast, which presented strong hemagglutinating anti-A1 activity. In this report we describe a chromatographic technique for the isolation and purification of this lectin. The molecule is a tetramer with a molecular weight of 120 kDa. It requires Ca++ or Mg++ for activity, and it is inhibited by N-Acetylgalactosamine (GalNac) at concentration of 2.8 mM., NN' N' Triacetylchitotriose, 4-O(4-O-D-Galactopyranosyl) -D-Galatopyranosyl-D-Glucopyranose, and N' Diacetylchitobiose inhibited at moderate concentration (20mM). Conalbumin and ovoalbumin, also inhibited hemagglutination.

Systematics, distribution, and host specificity ofAmblyopinusSolsky 1875 (Coleoptera Staphylinidae) in Mexico and Central America

The Mexican and Central American species of Amblyopinus Solsky 1875, adults of which are usually found in the fur of rodents, are revised. All species are fully described, and keys and illustrations of diagnostic features are provided to aid in their identification. A substantial quantity of new host and distributional data is provided. Five species, one of which consists of two subspecies, are known from Mexico and Central America Amblyopinus emarginatus Seevers 1955 (sanborni group) occurs in the montane regions of northwestern Panama and Costa Rica where it occurs on Oryzomys albigularis. In addition, four species and two subspecies of the jelskii group occur in Central America and Mexico: A. isabellae Barrera 1966, Sierra Madre del Sur in Mexico (host[s] various species of Peromyscus and Neotoma); A. barrerai Zaragoza Caballero & Sanchez Hernandez 1993, Sierra Madre de Oaxaca in Mexico (host[s], Peromyscus species, especially P. melanocarpus); A. schmidti schmidti Seevers 1944, highlands of Chiapas an...

Acculturation of indigenous societies: A mixe case study

Abstract When the nations of Western Europe discovered and colonised North and South America, a process of acculturation began for the indigenous peoples of the ‘New World’. Although acculturation went both ways, most of it was in the direction of indigenous peoples changing to the cultures of the conquering nations. The focus of this paper is on a village culture located in the state of Oaxaca in Mexico and the effects upon it of the Spanish culture. For the indigenous peoples of Oaxaca, the acculturation process was most intense from the sixteenth to the eighteenth centuries and again during the twentieth century. In the post‐conquest period, Roman Catholic missionaries were the principal culture‐change agents in the New World, as they converted the indigenous people to the Christian faith and to Spanish European culture. The oral traditions and the world view with which the indigenous communities regulate themselves in the twentieth century reflect the work of these missionaries. In the present century, there are many forces of acculturation. Among them are public education, the sciences, Protestant Christianity in its diverse forms, modern technology, government programmes for the villages, and political parties vying for the allegiance of indigenous peoples and dramatising their culture for political purposes. The purpose of this paper is to discuss some of the positive and negative factors in acculturation, especially among the Mixe people of the village of Coatlán where my wife and I lived many years studying the language and culture, promoting literacy, developing literature in the native language, compiling a dictionary, and translating Bible portions.

The Oaxaca Mexico, earthquake of 29 november 1978: a preliminary report on aftershocks

El área de réplicas del período del 1 o. al 12 de diciembre de 1978 para el temblor de Oaxaca (29 de noviembre, 1978; Ms= 7.8) se estima en 6000 km2. El temblor· parece llenar el tramo de quietud sísmico entre los temblores de 196.5 (Ms =7.6) y .1968 (Ms =7.5) solo parcialmente.