Diverse Genetic Resources Facilitated Chenopodium Domestication

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Frontiers of Plant Domestication" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

The prehistoric domesticate C. berlandieri var. jonesianum is well documented in the archaeobotanical record of eastern North America from ca. 3,800 BP to European contact when it fell out of use. The seed morphology of the domesticate resembles other new world Chenopodium domesticates (C. quinoa and C. berlandieri subsp. nuttalliae) and is distinct from its progenitor and extant wild relatives. Although the relationships among extant North American chenopods are unclear, their morphology provides insights into the diversity of genetic resources available to early agriculturalists. Seed samples were collected from domesticated chenopods and their wild relatives. Seeds were photographed whole and in bisection with a digital optical microscope to capture morphological detail. Seed morphology was compared using linear measurements and 2D morphometrics with principal components analysis in R. Polymorphism is highly variable within wild C. berlandieri vars. Variation across the species demonstrates diversity, a prerequisite for domestication. Morphological anomalies may suggest prehistoric conspecific crop-weed introgression. In early agricultural contexts, directional pressure on isolated populations may have driven rapid phenotype changes. Modern breeding methods may be able to duplicate morphology observed in domesticates by using seed morphology as a criterion for selection, a step toward re-domesticating the lost crop.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Frontiers of Plant Domestication   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 24887