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SUMMARY: The domestication process progressively differentiated wild relatives from modern cultivars, thus impacting plant‐associated microorganisms. Endophytic bacterial communities play vital roles in plant growth, development, and health, which contribute to the crop's sustainable development. However, how plant domestication impacts endophytic bacterial communities and relevant root exudates in wheat remains unclear. First, we have observed that the domestication process increased the root endophytic microbial community diversity of wheat while decreasing functional diversity. Second, domestication decreased the endophytic bacterial co‐occurrence network stability, and it did significantly alter the abundances of core microorganisms or potential probiotics. Third, untargeted LC–MS metabolomics revealed that domestication significantly altered the metabolite profiles, and the abundances of various root exudates released were significantly correlated with keystone taxa including the Chryseobacterium, Massilia, and Lechevalieria. Moreover, we found that root exudates, especially L‐tyrosine promote the growth of plant‐beneficial bacteria, such as Chryseobacterium. Additionally, with L‐tyrosine and Chryseobacterium colonized in the roots, the growth of wild wheat's roots was significantly promoted, while no notable effect could be found in the domesticated cultivars. Overall, this study suggested that wild wheat as a key germplasm material, and its native endophytic microbes may serve as a resource for engineering crop microbiomes to improve the morphological and physiological traits of crops in widely distributed poor soils. Significant Statement: Building on previous research, our study further investigates the significant effects of long‐term domestication, which has played a crucial role in the development of human civilization, on the communities of endophytic bacteria and root exudates in wheat. Our findings indicate that wild wheat, along with its naturally occurring endophytic microbes, could be valuable resources for manipulating crop microbiomes and improving the overall characteristics of crops in nutrient‐depleted soils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Beyond carrying the plant embryo, seeds harbour intricate microbial communities whose transmission across successive plant generations can significantly influence the ecological and evolutionary dynamics of plant–microbe symbioses. The process of plant domestication has potential repercussions in genes involved in plant-microbiome interactions. However, the extent to which breeding can impact the seed microbiome is sparsely explored. Cannabis is a high-value crop but sparsely subjected to agricultural innovations established in other crop species during the last century. Here, we conduct a large-scale analysis of the bacterial seed microbiome of Cannabis across different domestication grades and investigate the potential of seed-associated endophytes as plant growth-promoting agents under both controlled and field conditions. Results: Analysis of Cannabis seed endophyte composition and diversity across 46 plant genotypes revealed 813 different bacterial genera with a predominance of Gammaproteobacteria, Bacilli, Actinobacteria and Alphaproteobacteria but a genotype-specific microbiome. The assessment of domestication and breeding on microbial assembly revealed a higher bacterial diversity in low domestication genotypes (Shannon index, H′: 1.21 vs. 1.05) and a higher homogeneity in bacterial composition caused by line development. Further, a seed bacterial isolate (Bacillus frigoritolerans C1141) associated with low domestication genotypes, and with genes associated with bio-fertilization, bioremediation and phytohormone production, increased plant growth by 42.3% at the time of harvest, under field conditions. Conclusion: This study addresses critical knowledge gaps related to the assembly of the Cannabis seed-endophytic microbiome. It reveals that Cannabis breeding is linked to alterations of seed microbial communities, which potentially led to the loss of bacteria with functional significance. These results highlight the importance of preserving seed microbiomes in plant breeding to support sustainable plant health and growth enhancement in Cannabis. CAHvc7HPtw2foEoMit4yw- Video Abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant domestication often alters plant traits, including chemical and physical defenses against herbivores. In squash, domestication leads to reduced levels of cucurbitacins and leaf trichomes, influencing interactions with insects. However, the impact of domestication on inducible defenses in squash remains poorly understood. Here, we investigated the chemical and physical defensive traits of wild and domesticated squash (Cucurbita argyrosperma), and compared their responses to belowground and aboveground infestation by the root-feeding larvae and the leaf-chewing adults of the banded cucumber beetle Diabrotica balteata (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae). Wild populations contained cucurbitacins in roots and cotyledons but not in leaves, whereas domesticated varieties lacked cucurbitacins in all tissues. Belowground infestation by D. balteata larvae did not increase cucurbitacin levels in the roots but triggered the expression of cucurbitacin biosynthetic genes, irrespective of domestication status, although the response varied among different varieties. Conversely, whereas wild squash had more leaf trichomes than domesticated varieties, the induction of leaf trichomes in response to herbivory was greater in domesticated plants. Leaf herbivory varied among varieties but there was a trend of higher leaf damage on wild squash than domesticated varieties. Overall, squash plants responded to both belowground and aboveground herbivory by activating chemical defense-associated gene expression in roots and upregulating their physical defense in leaves, respectively. While domestication suppressed both chemical and physical defenses, our findings suggest that it may enhance inducible defense mechanisms by increasing trichome induction in response to herbivory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Societal Impact Statement Summary To understand why certain plants have been domesticated into crops, we need to recognize that the environmental conditions plants experience in wild populations are totally different from those of agricultural fields. In this study, we investigated whether the characteristics that promote growth and survival in these different environments may have influenced domestication. Our results revealed that ancestral crops were selected because they developed better than other plants in dense single‐species stands, with selection for increased yield likely occurring after domestication. These insights shed light on the origins of agriculture and offer valuable guidance for future crop breeding efforts. In spite of a large history of research, it is still unclear which functional traits may have mediated plant domestication. Solving this problem requires consideration of the ecological and demographic disparities between natural plant populations and cultivated fields. Since population density tends to be higher in the latter, we hypothesized that traits facilitating growth and survival in dense, monospecific populations might have been relevant for initial domestication. We investigated whether functional traits that respond to population density varied across three different domestication stages: undomesticated crop wild relatives, natural populations of crop progenitors, and landraces. To do this, we compared traits influencing competition (lodging; growth rate), resource acquisition (plant height; total aerial and root biomass) and yield (fruit number) in three annual legume crops—lentil, grasspea, and vetch—grown without resource limitation at three different densities. Our results showed clear differences among species, likely reflective of the distinct uses of the crops and their domestication pathways. Nevertheless, undomesticated relatives consistently differed from crop progenitors and landraces, producing smaller, slower‐growing plants that were more prostrate and allocated less biomass to roots. The effect of selection under domestication on these vegetative traits appeared to be largely negligible. Conversely, landraces produced more fruits. We conclude that early agriculturalists selected for domestication wild legumes that performed well in dense monocultures and were more effective in resource capture. Later domestication and breeding efforts likely had more significant effects on reproductive traits, such as fruit and seed production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Domestication has shaped the population structure and agronomic traits of tea plants, yet the complexity of tea population structure and genetic variation that determines these traits remains unclear. We here investigated the resequencing data of 363 diverse tea accessions collected extensively from almost all tea distributions and found that the population structure of tea plants was divided into eight subgroups, which were basically consistent with their geographical distributions. The genetic diversity of tea plants in China decreased from southwest to east as latitude increased. Results also indicated that Camellia sinensis var. assamica (CSA) illustrated divergent selection signatures with Camellia sinensis var. sinensis (CSS). The domesticated genes of CSA were mainly involved in leaf development, flavonoid and alkaloid biosynthesis, while the domesticated genes in CSS mainly participated in amino acid metabolism, aroma compounds biosynthesis, and cold stress. Comparative population genomics further identified ~730 Mb novel sequences, generating 6,058 full‐length protein‐encoding genes, significantly expanding the gene pool of tea plants. We also discovered 217,376 large‐scale structural variations and 56,583 presence and absence variations (PAVs) across diverse tea accessions, some of which were associated with tea quality and stress resistance. Functional experiments demonstrated that two PAV genes (CSS0049975 and CSS0006599) were likely to drive trait diversification in cold tolerance between CSA and CSS tea plants. The overall findings not only revealed the genetic diversity and domestication of tea plants, but also underscored the vital role of structural variations in the diversification of tea plant traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Orphan perennial native species are gaining importance as sustainability in agriculture becomes crucial to mitigate climate change. Nevertheless, issues related to the undomesticated status and lack of improved germplasm impede the evolution of formal agricultural initiatives. Acrocomia aculeata - a neotropical palm with potential for oil production - is an example. Breeding efforts can aid the species to reach its full potential and increase market competitiveness. Here, we present genomic information and training set optimization as alternatives to boost orphan perennial native species breeding using Acrocomia aculeata as an example. Furthermore, we compared three SNP calling methods and, for the first time, presented the prediction accuracies of three yield-related traits. We collected data for two years from 201 wild individuals. These trees were genotyped, and three references were used for SNP calling: the oil palm genome, de novo sequencing, and the A. aculeata transcriptome. The traits analyzed were fruit dry mass (FDM), pulp dry mass (PDM), and pulp oil content (OC). We compared the predictive ability of GBLUP and BayesB models in crossand real validation procedures. Afterwards, we tested several optimization criteria regarding consistency and the ability to provide the optimized training set that yielded less risk in both targeted and untargeted scenarios. Using the oil palm genome as a reference and GBLUP models had better results for the genomic prediction of FDM, OC, and PDM (prediction accuracies of 0.46, 0.45, and 0.39, respectively). Using the criteria PEV, r-score and core collection methodology provides risk-averse decisions. Training set optimization is an alternative to improve decision-making while leveraging genomic information as a cost-saving tool to accelerate plant domestication and breeding. The optimized training set can be used as a reference for the characterization of native species populations, aiding in decisions involving germplasm collection and construction of breeding populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary Understanding trait–trait coordination is essential for successful plant breeding and crop modeling. Notably, plant size drives variation in morphological, physiological, and performance‐related traits, as described by allometric laws in ecology. Yet, as allometric relationships have been limitedly studied in crops, how they influence and possibly limit crop performance remains unknown. Here, we review how an allometry perspective on crops gains insights into the phenotypic evolution during crop domestication, the breeding of varieties adapted to novel conditions, and the prediction of crop yields. As allometry is an active field of research, modeling and manipulating crop allometric relationships can help to develop more resilient and productive agricultural systems to face future challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change threatens current crops, necessitating the development of stress-tolerant alternatives. De novo domestication of already tolerant plants is a promising solution, but the wild progenitors may become weeds that are challenging to identify in the field. Genome editing could add signature traits to de novo domesticated crops to make them recognizable by remote sensing. Genes associated with the biosynthesis of anthocyanin and carotenoid and with leaf and seed morphology are potential editing targets for improving automated recognition of weeds in agriculture. Most high-yielding crops are susceptible to abiotic and biotic stresses, making them particularly vulnerable to the potential effects of climate change. A possible alternative is to accelerate the domestication of wild plants that are already tolerant to harsh conditions and to increase their yields by methods such as gene editing. We foresee that crops' wild progenitors could potentially compete with the resulting de novo domesticated plants, reducing yields. To improve the recognition of weeds, we propose using gene editing techniques to introduce traits into de novo domesticated crops that will allow for visual recognition of the crops by weeding robots that have been trained by machine learning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When plant-available phosphorus (P) is lost from a soil solution, it often accumulates in the soil as a pool of unavailable legacy P. To acquire legacy P, plants employ recovery strategies, such as forming associations with soil microbes. However, the degree to which plants rely on microbial associations for this purpose varies with crop domestication and subsequent breeding. Here, by generating microbial co-occurrence networks, we sought to explore rhizosphere bacterial interactions in low-P conditions and how they change with tomato domestication and breeding. We grew wild tomato, traditional tomato (developed circa 1900), and modern tomato (developed circa 2020) in high-P and low-P soil throughout their vegetative developmental stage. Co-occurrence network analysis revealed that as the tomatoes progressed along the stages of domestication, the rhizosphere microbiome increased in complexity in a P deficit. However, with the addition of P fertilizer, the wild tomato group became more complex, surpassing the complexity of traditional and modern tomato, suggesting a high degree of responsiveness in the rhizosphere microbiome to P fertilizer by wild tomato relatives. By illustrating these changing patterns of network complexity in the tomato rhizosphere microbiome, we can further understand how plant domestication and breeding have shaped plant–microbe interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The domestication of plants and animals has resulted in one of the most significant cultural and socio‐economical transitions in human history. Domestication of animals, including human‐supervised reproduction, largely uncoupled particular animal species from their natural, evolutionary history driven by environmental and ecological factors. The primary motivations for domesticating animals were, and still are, producing food and materials (e.g. meat, eggs, honey or milk products, wool, leather products, jewelry and medication products) to support plowing in agriculture or in transportation (e.g. horse, cattle, camel and llama) and to facilitate human activities (for hunting, rescuing, therapeutic aid, guarding behavior and protecting or just as a companion). In recent years, decoded genetic information from more than 40 domesticated animal species have become available; these studies have identified genes and mutations associated with specific physiological and behavioral traits contributing to the complex genetic background of animal domestication. These breeding‐altered genomes provide insights into the regulation of different physiological areas, including information on links between e.g. endocrinology and behavior, with important pathophysiological implications (e.g. for obesity and cancer), extending the interest in domestication well beyond the field. Several genes that have undergone selection during domestication and breeding encode specific G protein‐coupled receptors, a class of membrane‐spanning receptors involved in the regulation of a number of overarching functions such as reproduction, development, body homeostasis, metabolism, stress responses, cognition, learning and memory. Here we summarize the available literature on variations in G protein‐coupled receptors and their ligands and how these have contributed to animal domestication. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

When attacked by insect herbivores, plants emit blends of chemical compounds known as herbivore‐induced plant volatiles (HIPVs). Although HIPVs are produced both aboveground and belowground, how HIPVs vary across plant tissues remains unresolved, as do the selective forces shaping interspecific HIPV emission patterns. Here, we compared foliar and root HIPVs within and among closely related plant species and evaluated if different eco‐evolutionary forces, including plant domestication, coexistence histories with herbivores, or phylogenetic relatedness, explain HIPV blends. To examine aboveground and belowground patterns in HIPVs, we compared leaf and root volatile profiles for six species in the Cucurbitaceae that differed in domestication status and coexistence history with specialist insect herbivores. We predicted that within‐species HIPVs from different tissues would be more similar than HIPV blends among different species, and that plant volatile chemodiversity was reduced by domestication and enhanced by coexistence histories with herbivores. We found that herbivory induced both quantitative and qualitative changes in volatile emissions across all plant species, which were more pronounced aboveground than belowground. Each species produced tissue‐specific HIPVs, and foliar and root HIPVs differed among species. Contrary to our predictions, plant domestication enhanced foliar volatile diversity, while coexistence histories with herbivores reduced foliar and root volatile diversity. Additionally, phylogenetic relatedness did not correlate with aboveground or belowground volatiles. Overall, this work furthers our understanding of the eco‐evolutionary forces driving patterns in aboveground and belowground HIPV emissions, elucidating an important and previously undescribed component of within‐plant variation in chemodiversity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigated the effects of cultivating Tridax procumbens in hydroponic conditions with different concentrations of copper ions, aiming to understand the physiological changes and the impact on the biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. The treatments consisted of a completely randomized design, with five increasing concentrations of copper (T0 = 0.235, T1 = 12.5, T2 = 25, T3 = 50, T4 = 100 µmol L−1 of Cu), under controlled conditions for 36 days. Analysis of bioactive compounds in leaves was performed by HPLC–DAD and ESI–MS. Several phenolic compounds, alkaloids, phytosterols and triterpenoids were identified, demonstrating the plant's metabolic plasticity. The highest dose of copper (100 µmol L−1) significantly promoted voacangine, the most predominant compound in the analyses. Notably, 66.7% of the metabolites that showed an increase in concentration, were phenolic compounds. Furthermore, treatments with 12.5 and 25 µmol L−1 of copper were identified as promoting the biosynthesis of phytosterols and triterpenoids. These biochemical adaptations can play a fundamental role in the survival and development of plants in environments contaminated by metals, and from this it is possible to determine cultivation techniques that maximize the biosynthesis of the compound of interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and aim: With a growing focus on soil health, modern agroecosystems have begun to emphasize greater reliance on organic nitrogen (N) sources to meet crop N demands. Teosinte (Zea mays subsp. parviglumis), a wild relative of modern maize (Zea mays subsp. mays), is believed to modulate its belowground carbon (C) allocation based on the type of N in the soil, thus allowing for greater organic N uptake. However, linkages between belowground allocation and N acquisition from organic vs. synthetic N sources remain poorly understood. Methods: We designed a 13C/15N dual label experiment in which we compared the C allocation patterns of modern maize and teosinte in response to synthetic (urea) and organic (cover crop residue) forms of N. Results: Teosinte responded to organic N by increasing its biomass root-to-shoot (R:S) ratio by 50% compared to synthetic N, while modern maize maintained the same biomass R:S ratios in both N treatments. Recent photosynthate R:S ratio (measured using 13C-CO2, 7 weeks after establishment) was greater in organic N than in synthetic N treatments for both modern maize and teosinte (91% and 37%; respectively). Label-derived dissolved organic C, representing recent rhizodeposits, was 2.5 times greater in the organic N treatments for both genotypes. Conclusion: Modern maize took up a similar amount of organic N as teosinte using different C allocation strategies. Our findings suggest that intensive breeding under high N input conditions has not affected this modern maize hybrid's access to organic N while improving its ability to take up synthetic N. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The indigenous wild plants of Southern Africa are intertwined with human cultures, histories and livelihoods. By focusing on commercial cultivation of a wild plant, honeybush (Cyclopia spp.), an indigenous plant that is endemic to parts of South Africa, we discuss changing colonial relations of domination and alienation affecting its use by local communities. We draw from an interdisciplinary study of honeybush conducted in the Western Cape and Eastern Cape provinces of South Africa, which included archival research, life history interviews, participant observation and a review of honeybush cultivation science. Anna Tsing's notion of non-scalability and a multispecies critique of plant domestication guides our analysis of the changing relations and approaches to honeybush use. We show the impact these changes exert on human and human-non-human relations. We conclude that the persistence of scalable projects in the commercial use of honeybush sustains and reconfigures relations that strengthen the alienation of (certain) humans from nature. Our interdisciplinary research highlights how historical violence continues to be subsumed in plant domestication and commercialisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Premise: The domestication of wild plant species can begin with gathering and transport of propagules by Indigenous peoples. The effect on genomic composition, especially in clonal, self‐incompatible perennials would be instantaneous and drastic with respect to new, anthropogenic populations subsequently established. Reductions in genetic diversity and mating capability would be symptomatic and the presence of unique alleles and genetic sequences would reveal the origins and ancestry of populations associated with archaeological sites. The current distribution of the Four Corners potato, Solanum jamesii Torr. in the Southwestern USA, may thus reflect the early stages of a domestication process that began with tuber transport. Methods: Herein genetic sequencing (GBS) data are used to further examine the hypothesis of domestication in this culturally significant species by sampling 25 archaeological and non‐archaeological populations. Results: Archaeological populations from Utah, Colorado and northern Arizona have lower levels of polymorphic loci, unique alleles, and heterozygosity than non‐archaeological populations from the Mogollon region of central Arizona and New Mexico. Principle components analysis, Fst values, and structure analysis revealed that genetic relationships among archaeological populations did not correspond to geographic proximity. Populations in Escalante, Utah were related to those on the Mogollon Rim (400 km south) and had multiple origins and significant disjunctions with those populations in Bears Ears, Chaco Canyon, and Mesa Verde sites. Conclusions: Movement of tubers from the Mogollon region may have occurred many times and in multiple directions during the past, resulting in the complex genetic patterns seen in populations from across the Four Corners region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The issue of Neolithization in the eastern Mazandaran region has once again become an attractive topic for archaeologists and researchers after 70 years of silence. Excavations and field surveys have been carried out during these years to examine various hypotheses for the origins of plant and animal domestication in this important crossroads region. However, despite the clarification of some issues, more questions have been raised that remain unanswered. Past field surveys could not fully represent the Neolithic capacities of eastern Mazandaran. Therefore, a field survey program titled "Investigation and Identification of Neolithic Settlements in the Lowlands and Highlands of Eastern Mazandaran" was proposed. In this field program, two main goals were considered: 1) regional connections between sites in the highlands and plains of eastern Mazandaran; and 2) relations with adjacent regions of Northeastern Iran and South Turkmenistan. The first goal sought to provide evidence of an endogenous transition to Neolithic lifeways, while the second examined possible routes for an exogenous origin. In the survey, 53 sites were investigated and pottery collections from previous excavations and field surveys were also reviewed. The result was the identification of 30 Neolithic sites in both the highlands and plains, which increased the number of Neolithic settlements in eastern Mazandaran to 42 sites. Study of the collected pottery indicates that there is a clear connection between the plains and the highlands, which is likely related to seasonal grazing of herding communities. According to the evidence, inter-regional relations with adjacent regions should be searched not through intermontane valleys, but through the lowland Caspian littoral region, especially the Gorgan Plain, which may argue for a Neolithization process based on exogenous factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Flax (Linum usitatissimum L.), as the earliest oil and fiber crop, is a model plant for genetic inferences of plant domestication processes involving multiple domestication events. However, a puzzle has emerged from several genetic studies, as dehiscent cultivated flax is genetically more related to its progenitor pale flax (L. bienne Mill.), and winter cultivated flax is well mixed with oil or fiber cultivated flax, while capsular dehiscence and winter hardiness are the major characteristics of pale flax. For this, a comparative analysis was conducted with 16 Linum samples representing pale flax and four domestication groups of cultivated flax (oil, fiber, winter, and dehiscent) using 454 pyrosequencing, Sanger resequencing and microsatellite data. It was found that the genomic sampling of genetic variants from the three applied methods yielded similar genetic information on pale flax and four groups of cultivated flax. The revealed genetic relationships did not show significant departures from the previous findings, but instead supported an early, independent domestication of a primitive flax lineage for oil use, followed by a subsequent flax domestication process with multiple domestication events for capsular dehiscence, oil, fiber and winter hardiness. Domestication on capsular dehiscence occurred earlier than domestication on winter hardiness. Domestication on winter hardiness was more complicated than domestication on capsular dehiscence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents an exploratory study on the taxonomic diversity of pre-Hispanic archaeofaunas in the South-Central Andes (SCA; western South America) from the Pleistocene-Holocene boundary to the Late-Holocene. The SCA is a complex of diverse environments and has undergone distinct climate events for the last 13,000 years, such as the occurrence of warmer and drier conditions in the Middle-Holocene. The South-Central Andean area was part of the larger Andes interaction area, which was a primary center for animal and plant domestication and the emergence of agro-pastoralist economies. Since subsistence was key to these processes, the SCA provides a relevant case study on the interactions among environment, foodways and sociocultural evolution. Taxonomic diversity was used here as a proxy for diet breadth. A total of 268 archaeofaunal assemblages were sampled from the zooarchaeological literature. Reviewed variables included the cultural chronology and spatial coordinates of the assemblages, as well as the presence and abundance of taxa at the family rank. Taxonomic diversity covered two dimensions: composition (families present in each assemblage) and structure (quantitative relationships among taxa), which was measured through richness (NTAXA), ubiquity and relative abundance (NISP based rank-order). Despite the uneven distribution of samples, the analyses revealed the following trends: (1) a moderate relationship between NTAXA and distance from coastline for most of the Holocene; (2) a potential decrease in assemblage richness for coastal ecoregions during the Late-Holocene; and (3) a generalized increase in the relative abundance of Camelidae. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents a synthesis of the hypotheses and evidence for plant domestication and the origins of agriculture in the northern Horn of Africa. To date, available archaeological data point to an introduction of agricultural practices to Ethiopia during the late Holocene, c. 1600 BC, influenced by adjacent areas including eastern Sudan, Egypt and southern Arabia. The archaeobotanical record shows that farming in the northern highlands was based on the cultivation of barley, linseed and lentils, combined with the exploitation of local wild grasses from the Panicoideae and Chloridoideae sub-families. This indicates that local populations also played a role in the development of productive activities in the region, a process that might have been in place before the arrival of the southwest Asian agricultural package. After the first millennium BC, amidst an increase in sedentary settlements in the region, new domesticated crops appeared in the archaeological record. These include exogenous crops such as emmer wheat, but also indigenous plants such as t'ef and noog, which were locally domesticated likely throughout the Pre-Aksumite period. With the rise of the Aksumite Kingdom, c. 50 BC – AD 700, the agricultural package again expanded to include of a wide range of pulses, geophytes and other economic crops. Macrobotanical remains of sorghum and finger millet also appear for the first time during this period, although this contrasts with the microbotanical record of the region, which points to an earlier presence. In the southern highlands and southwest Ethiopia, evidence of Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew (Ethiopian potato or Oromo potato) has been identified by the late first millennium BC, pointing towards an earlier domestication than previously considered. Similarly, enset and coffee remains have been documented during the early first millennium AD. Altogether, new studies are needed to confirm some of these hypotheses, as archaeobotanical studies in the northern Horn are still limited. The combination of macrobotanical and microbotanical data, along with ethnoarchaeological and experimental research programs and linguistic studies, will be of critical importance for refining our current understanding of the processes associated with plant domestication and the introduction of crop production in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Summary: Polyploidization is a major event driving plant evolution and domestication. However, how reshaped epigenetic modifications coordinate gene transcription to generate phenotypic variations during wheat polyploidization is currently elusive.Here, we profiled transcriptomes and DNA methylomes of two diploid wheat accessions (SlSl and AA) and their synthetic allotetraploid wheat line (SlSlAA), which displayed elongated root hair and improved root capability for nitrate uptake and assimilation after tetraploidization.Globally decreased DNA methylation levels with a reduced difference between subgenomes were observed in the roots of SlSlAA. DNA methylation changes in first exon showed strong connections with altered transcription during tetraploidization. Homoeolog‐specific transcription was associated with biased DNA methylation as shaped by homoeologous sequence variation. The hypomethylated promoters showed significantly enriched binding sites for MYB, which may affect gene transcription in response to root hair growth. Two master regulators in root hair elongation pathway, AlCPC and TuRSL4, exhibited upregulated transcription levels accompanied by hypomethylation in promoter, which may contribute to the elongated root hair. The upregulated nitrate transporter genes, including NPFs and NRTs, also are significantly associated with hypomethylation, indicating an epigenetic‐incorporated regulation manner in improving nitrogen use efficiency.Collectively, these results provided new insights into epigenetic changes in response to crop polyploidization and underscored the importance of epigenetic regulation in improving crop traits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past 15 y has seen much development in documentation of domestication of plants and animals as gradual traditions spanning millennia. There has also been considerable momentum in understanding the dispersals of major domesticated taxa across continents spanning thousands of miles. The two processes are often considered within different theoretical strains. What is missing from our repertoire of explanations is a conceptual bridge between the protracted process over millennia and the multiregional, globally dispersed nature of domestication. The evidence reviewed in this paper bears upon how we conceptualize domestication as an episode or a process. By bringing together the topics of crop domestication and crop movement, those complex, protracted, and continuous outcomes come more clearly into view. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Our research occurred in the Andean region, one of the eight global centers of domestication of plant species grown for agriculture. The shores of Lake Titicaca (located between Peru and Bolivia), at 3800 meters above sea level, are recognized as the center of origin of quinoa (Chenopodium quinoa Willd.). In this region, complex societies have emerged, thanks to the development of water and soil management technologies. They have managed to overcome high mountain territories' extreme and variable climatic conditions. These societies have traditionally protected and preserved quinoa as food for present and future generations through their long-standing knowledge and cultivation practices. The fieldwork occurred in the context of Andean family farming, and our study analyzes nature-society dynamics with a chorematic approach and interviews with local communities. The interest of this work is the transformation of the landscape at the scale of the mountain agroecosystem to understand better the impacts of rural development policies. Chorematic modeling was applied to two periods, before and after 1970, a pivotal year in Peru for agriculture, to show how socio-spatial dynamics in the Andean environment are changing, particularly concerning the evolution of quinoa cultivation. The results show that wild quinoa relatives' distribution is strongly linked to the socio-spatial organization of the agroecosystem. Different species of wild quinoa relatives are maintained by villagers for their multiple foods, medicinal and cultural uses in natural areas, grazed areas, on edge, and also within cultivated fields. However, this management is changing under the pressure of global issues related to the international quinoa market, whose requirements imply reducing the presence of wild relatives in cultivated fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The Peruvian Andean region is an important center for plant domestication. However, to date, there have been few genetic studies on native grain, which limits our understanding of their genetic diversity and the development of new genetic studies for their breeding. Herein, we revealed the plastid genome of Chenopodium petiolare to expand our knowledge of its molecular markers, evolutionary studies, and conservation genetics. Data description: Total genomic DNA was extracted from fresh leaves (voucher: USM < PER > :MHN333570). The DNA was sequenced using Illumina Novaseq 6000 (Macrogen Inc., Seoul, Republic of Korea) and reads 152,064 bp in length, with a large single-copy region of 83,520 bp and small single-copy region of 18,108 bp were obtained. These reads were separated by a pair of inverted repeat regions (IR) of 25,218 bp, and the overall guanine and cytosine (GC) was 37.24%. The plastid genome contains 130 genes (111 genes were unique and 19 genes were found duplicated in each IR region), including 86 protein-coding genes, 36 transfer RNA-coding genes, eight ribosomal RNA-coding genes, and 25 genes with introns (21 genes with one intron and four genes with two introns). The phylogenetic tree reconstructed based on single-copy orthologous genes and maximum likelihood analysis indicated that Chenopodium petiolare is most closely related to Chenopodium quinoa. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The domestication of plants and animals differs from symbiotic relationships in its literal redesign of one lifeform by another. The shaping of lifeforms with the domestication of both animals and plants from canines to corn via selective breeding, hybridization and now genetic engineering confirms how evolution is governed more by culture and less nature. The focus here is on the theme of design in which we are fully involved as witnessed in our developing numerous breeds for our ends ranging from food to flowers. We created unnatural colors, floppy ears, and no procreation without intervention each of which run counter to what was heretofore natural order. Each of these alterations and innumerably more are artificial and entirely unnatural from a standard Darwinian perspective with market forces now determining the directions that were the province of evolutionary forces. The patenting of life forms, genetic mapping and gene splicing have only accelerated what was already a process of artificial selection. The piece concludes with discussion on the biases that have implications for life on this planet from our meddling with myriad species everywhere. Our preferences for the warm and furry over the cold and slimy is addressed suggesting that futurists should take the lead along with environmental scientists and bioethicists in critically assessing these biases in the context of the enormous complexity which comprises the web of life. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tea has historically been one of the most popular beverages, and it is currently an economically significant crop cultivated in over 50 countries. The Northwestern Caucasus is one of the northernmost regions for industrial tea cultivation worldwide. The domestication of the tea plant in this region took approximately 150 years, during which plantations spreading from the Ozurgeti region in northern Georgia to the southern city of Maykop in Russia. Consequently, tea plantations in the Northern Caucasus can serve as a source of unique genotypes with exceptional cold tolerance. Tea plants are known to be recalcitrant to Agrobacterium-mediated transfection. Research into optimal transfection and regeneration methodologies, as well as the identification of tea varieties with enhanced transformation efficiency, is an advanced strategy for improving tea plant culture. The aim of this study was to search for the optimal Agrobacterium tumefaciens-mediated transfection protocol for the Kolkhida tea variety. As a result of optimizing the transfection medium with potassium phosphate buffer at the stages of pre-inoculation, inoculation and co-cultivation, the restoration of normal morphology and improvement in the attachment of Agrobacterium cells to the surface of tea explants were observed by scanning electron microscopy. And an effective method of high-efficiency Agrobacteria tumefaciens-mediated transfection of the best local tea cultivar, Kolkhida, was demonstrated for the first time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The worldwide agricultural system confronts a significant challenge represented by the increasing demand for food in the face of a growing global population. This challenge is exacerbated by a reduction in cultivable land and the adverse effects of climate change on crop yield quantity and quality. Breeders actively embrace cutting-edge omics technologies to pursue resilient genotypes in response to these pressing issues. In this global context, new breeding techniques (NBTs) are emerging as the future of agriculture, offering a solution to introduce resilient crops that can ensure food security, particularly against challenging climate events. Indeed, the search for domestication genes as well as the genetic modification of these loci in wild species using genome editing tools are crucial steps in carrying out de novo domestication of wild plants without compromising their genetic background. Current knowledge allows us to take different paths from those taken by early Neolithic farmers, where crop domestication has opposed natural selection. In this process traits and alleles negatively correlated with high resource environment performance are probably eradicated through artificial selection, while others may have been lost randomly due to domestication and genetic bottlenecks. Thus, domestication led to highly productive plants with little genetic diversity, owing to the loss of valuable alleles that had evolved to tolerate biotic and abiotic stresses. Recent technological advances have increased the feasibility of de novo domestication of wild plants as a promising approach for crafting optimal crops while ensuring food security and using a more sustainable, low-input agriculture. Here, we explore what crucial domestication genes are, coupled with the advancement of technologies enabling the precise manipulation of target sequences, pointing out de novo domestication as a promising application for future crop development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The lower Yangtze River valley has widely been regarded as centres of rice domestication, tracing back to 10,000 cal a BP or even earlier in the late Pleistocene. Despite recent advances in both evidence of genetics and archaeology had shed light on the process of rice domestication, including its initiation, acceleration, and completion, the spatial pattern and intra-regional differences of rice domestication in the lower Yangtze River remain unclear. Here, rice bulliform phytoliths were selected as a proxy of the domestication trait and applied to Jingtoushan, Hemudu, Yushan and Xiawangdu sites, ranging from 8000 to 5000 cal a BP in the Ningshao Plain, along with accumulated phytolith data in the Jinqu Basin and Taihu Plain. Rice domestication in the lower Yangtze River exhibited a geographic mosaic pattern rather than the presumed synchronous process among different regions. Rice domestication was initiated during the Shangshan culture (10–8.5 cal ka BP) in the Jinqu Basin and increased rapidly, which reached even higher level than the subsequent Jingtoushan culture (8.3–7.8 cal ka BP) in the Ningshao Plain. During the middle Holocene, rice domestication in the Taihu Plain was generally higher than that in the contemporaneous Ningshao Plain which may finish hundreds of years later. In contrast to the accomplishment of rice domestication around 6000 cal a BP in the Taihu Plain, the delayed process of rice domestication in the Ningshao Plain may result from frequent marine inundation induced by sea-level fluctuation during the Jingtoushan and Hemudu cultures (7–5 cal ka BP). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay theorizes crop seeds as deep time technologies, surveying a range of materialist approaches to the study of agriculture, from historical materialism to agroecology and actor-network theory. Recent studies of plant domestication suggest that the long history of human-plant relations and agrarian knowledge defy the reduction of seeds to products of nature or objects of property. Approaching seeds as technologies allows us to understand the actors and processes of improvement that demarcate biological material according to commercial and scientific logics. Framing seeds as a collaborative technological project with a 19,000-year history unseats industrial time as the dominant frame in the history of technology. It recasts political economy not simply as a construction of human social relations of production but also as it imagines the material used to produce life itself. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the genesis of humanity, man has sought a way to guarantee his food, going from the collection of plants, fruits and hunting animals to the cultivation of plants and the domestication of animals to obtain food, this is how the activity Agriculture became part of their culture. Since then, food production through domestic animal husbandry has evolved alongside technology and science, becoming one of the most important activities in the world. For its part, the (Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations [FAO], 2014) points out that there are indications that the production of small ruminants could continue to positively influence food security and foresees an increase in the consumption of beef. mutton worldwide of 28% by 2030. Regarding its importance from family production, Ganzábal, et al (2014) mention that small-scale sheep production should be considered as a development strategy, aimed at small and medium-sized family producers, since it implies the development of human and social capital. This work briefly analyzes the conditions for this type of activity in urban areas to be carried out in a sustainable and ethical manner under an axiological approach to both animal and human well-being. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In a plant-microbe symbiosis, the host plant plays a key role in promoting the association of beneficial microbes and maintaining microbiome homeostasis through microbe-associated molecular patterns (MAMPs). The associated microbes provide an additional layer of protection for plant immunity and help in nutrient acquisition. Despite identical MAMPs in pathogens and commensals, the plant distinguishes between them and promotes the enrichment of beneficial ones while defending against the pathogens. The rhizosphere is a narrow zone of soil surrounding living plant roots. Hence, various biotic and abiotic factors are involved in shaping the rhizosphere microbiome responsible for pathogen suppression. Efforts have been devoted to modifying the composition and structure of the rhizosphere microbiome. Nevertheless, systemic manipulation of the rhizosphere microbiome has been challenging, and predicting the resultant microbiome structure after an introduced change is difficult. This is due to the involvement of various factors that determine microbiome assembly and result in an increased complexity of microbial networks. Thus, a comprehensive analysis of critical factors that influence microbiome assembly in the rhizosphere will enable scientists to design intervention techniques to reshape the rhizosphere microbiome structure and functions systematically. In this review, we give highlights on fundamental concepts in soil suppressiveness and concisely explore studies on how plants monitor microbiome assembly and homeostasis. We then emphasize key factors that govern pathogen-suppressive microbiome assembly. We discuss how pathogen infection enhances plant immunity by employing a cry-for-help strategy and examine how domestication wipes out defensive genes in plants experiencing domestication syndrome. Additionally, we provide insights into how nutrient availability and pH determine pathogen suppression in the rhizosphere. We finally highlight up-todate endeavors in rhizosphere microbiome manipulation to gain valuable insights into potential strategies by which microbiome structure could be reshaped to promote pathogen-suppressive soil development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Plant domestication is a remarkable example of rapid phenotypic transformation of polygenic traits, such as organ size. Evidence from a handful of study cases suggests this transformation is due to gene regulatory changes that result in non-additive phenotypes. Employing data from published genetic crosses, we estimated the role of non-additive gene action in the modulation of transcriptional landscapes in three domesticated plants: maize, sunflower, and chili pepper. Using A. thaliana, we assessed the correlation between gene regulatory network (GRN) connectivity properties, transcript abundance variation, and gene action. Finally, we investigated the propagation of non-additive gene action in GRNs. Results: We compared crosses between domesticated plants and their wild relatives to a set of control crosses that included a pair of subspecies evolving under natural selection and a set of inbred lines evolving under domestication. We found abundance differences on a higher portion of transcripts in crosses between domesticated-wild plants relative to the control crosses. These transcripts showed non-additive gene action more often in crosses of domesticated-wild plants than in our control crosses. This pattern was strong for genes associated with cell cycle and cell fate determination, which control organ size. We found weak but significant negative correlations between the number of targets of trans-acting genes (Out-degree) and both the magnitude of transcript abundance difference a well as the absolute degree of dominance. Likewise, we found that the number of regulators that control a gene's expression (In-degree) is weakly but negatively correlated with the magnitude of transcript abundance differences. We observed that dominant-recessive gene action is highly propagable through GRNs. Finally, we found that transgressive gene action is driven by trans-acting regulators showing additive gene action. Conclusions: Our study highlights the role of non-additive gene action on modulating domestication-related traits, such as organ size via regulatory divergence. We propose that GRNs are shaped by regulatory changes at genes with modest connectivity, which reduces the effects of antagonistic pleiotropy. Finally, we provide empirical evidence of the propagation of non-additive gene action in GRNs, which suggests a transcriptional epistatic model for the control of polygenic traits, such as organ size. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant evolutionary history has had profound effects on belowground traits, which is likely to have impacted the ability to interact with microorganisms, but consequences on root colonization and gene expression by plant growth‐promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) remain poorly understood. Here, we tested the hypothesis that wheat genomic content and domestication are key factors determining the capacity for PGPR interaction. Thus, 331 wheat representatives from eight Triticum or Aegilops species were inoculated under standardized conditions with the generalist PGPR Pseudomonas ogarae F113, using an autofluorescent reporter system for monitoring F113 colonization and expression of phl genes coding for the auxinic inducing signal 2,4‐diacetylphloroglucinol. The interaction with P. ogarae F113 was influenced by ploidy level, presence of genomes AA, BB, DD, and domestication. While root colonization was higher for hexaploid and tetraploid species, and phl expression level higher for hexaploid wheat, the diploid Ae. tauschii displayed higher phl induction rate (i.e., expression:colonisation ratio) on roots. However, a better potential of interaction with F113 (i.e., under non‐stress gnotobiotic conditions) did not translate, after seed inoculation, into better performance of wheat landraces in non‐sterile soil under drought. Overall, results showed that domestication and especially plant genomic content modulate the PGPR interaction potential of wheats. Summary statement: Wheat has undergone a particular evolutionary history, with several genomic hybridizations and domestications. Its ability to interact with Pseudomonas plant‐growth promoting rhizobacteria is strongly influenced by plant genomic content, whereas wheat domestication status is of less importance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The pioneer Amaranthaceae species sand rice (Agriophyllum squarrosum) is an annual psammophyte that is widely distributed in the deserts and sand fields of northern China. The well‐balanced nutritional values, long consumption history, and extreme stress tolerance of sand rice have fascinated scientists, prompting its development as a climate‐resilient crop. Sand rice has been successfully introduced and cultivated on sandy and loess lands over the past decade, while large‐scale artificial planting has been carried out in the Ulan Buh and Tengger deserts. However, the yield is far below the maximum potential, as estimated by the highest yield per plant ever found in the Tengger desert during our survey of wild populations. The current domestication of sand rice relies mainly on natural selection and mutagenesis breeding. A few elite lines with modified agronomic traits, such as compact architecture, high productivity, reduced trichomes, and short plant stature, have been developed from natural populations and a chemical mutagenesis library. Breeding new cultivars and broader cultivation of sand rice in deserts and marginal lands will stimulate economic growth and diversify the food supply, especially for the area west of the Hu Huanyong Line, thus contributing to environmental sustainability in northern China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article, titled "Evolutionary insights into plant size increase in crops," discusses the importance of understanding the evolutionary history of crops in order to improve their yields and ensure agricultural sustainability. The study focuses on analyzing multiple crop species and their wild progenitors to investigate how domestication and modern breeding have influenced plant size and related traits. The findings suggest that domestication started from physiologically acquisitive species, but the ability to outcompete other species through larger size has been a more important factor in selection for agriculture. The study also highlights the role of seed size and growth dynamics in determining plant size and yield. Overall, this research provides valuable insights into the size changes that occurred during plant domestication and their implications for crop performance and adaptation. [Extracted from the article]

Domestication is an ongoing well‐described process. However, while many have studied the changes domestication causes in plant genetics, few have explored its impact on the portion of the geographic landscape in which the plants exist. Therefore, the goal of this study was to understand how the process of domestication changed the geographic space suitable for chile pepper (Capsicum annuum) in its center of origin (domestication). C. annuum is a major crop species globally whose center of domestication, Mexico, has been well‐studied. It provides a unique opportunity to explore the degree to which ranges of different domestication classes diverged and how these ranges might be altered by climate change. To this end, we created ecological niche models for four domestication classes (wild, semiwild, landrace, modern cultivar) based on present climate and future climate scenarios for 2050, 2070, and 2090. Considering present environment, we found substantial overlap in the geographic niches of all the domestication classes. Yet, environmental and geographic aspects of the current ranges did vary among classes. Wild and commercial varieties could grow in desert conditions, while landraces could not. With projections into the future, habitat was lost asymmetrically, with wild, semiwild, and landraces at greater risk of territorial declines than modern cultivars. Further, we identified areas where future suitability overlap between landraces and wilds is expected to be lost. While range expansion is widely associated with domestication, we found little support of a constant niche expansion (either in environmental or geographical space) throughout the domestication gradient in chile peppers in Mexico. Instead, particular domestication transitions resulted in loss, followed by capturing or recapturing environmental or geographic space. The differences in environmental characterization among domestication gradient classes and their future potential range shifts increase the need for conservation efforts to preserve landraces and semiwild genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop domestication has led to the development of distinct trait syndromes, a series of constrained plant trait trade‐offs to maximize yield in high‐input agricultural environments, and potentially constrained trait plasticity. Yet, with the ongoing transition to organic and diversified agroecosystems, which create more heterogeneous nutrient availability, this constrained plasticity, especially in root functional traits, may be undesirable for nutrient acquisition. Such agricultural systems require a nuanced understanding of the soil‐crop continuum under organic amendments and with intercropping, and the role crop genetic resources play in governing nutrient management and design. In this study, we use a functional traits lens to determine if crops with a range of domestication histories express different functional trait plasticity and how this expression changes with soil amendments and intercropping. We utilize a common garden experiment including five wheat (Triticum aestivum) varietals with a range of domestication histories planted in a factorial combination with amendment type (organic and inorganic) and cropping design (monoculture or intercropped with soybean). We use bivariate, multivariate and trait space analyses to quantify trait variation and plasticity in five leaf and five root functional traits. Almost all leaf and root traits varied among varieties. Yet, amendment type was nearly inconsequential for explaining trait expression across varieties. However, intercropping was linked to significant differences in root acquisitive strategies, regardless of the varietals' distinct history. Our findings show substantial leaf and root trait plasticity, with roots expressing greater trait space occupation with domestication, but also the strong role of management in crop trait expression. We underscore the utility of a functional trait‐based approach to understand plant–soil dynamics with organic amendments, as well as the role of crop genetic histories in the successful transition to low‐input and diversified agroecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and the diversity of consumer needs require innovative methods to continuously and rapidly modify existing crops for the development of new varieties. In the past decade genome editing by CRISPR/Cas and derivatives has emerged as a novel and effective technology for functional studies and gene discovery as well as for breeding new traits and genotypes. The development of novel CRISPR/Cas platforms, methods for the delivery of editing reagents, and methods for controlling gene regulation and detection of mutants have all expanded the scope of genome editing and other CRISPR/Cas-based approaches. The discovery of the CRISPR/Cas genome-editing system has revolutionized our understanding of the plant genome. CRISPR/Cas has been used for over a decade to modify plant genomes for the study of specific genes and biosynthetic pathways as well as to speed up breeding in many plant species, including both model and non-model crops. Although the CRISPR/Cas system is very efficient for genome editing, many bottlenecks and challenges slow down further improvement and applications. In this review we discuss the challenges that can occur during tissue culture, transformation, regeneration, and mutant detection. We also review the opportunities provided by new CRISPR platforms and specific applications related to gene regulation, abiotic and biotic stress response improvement, and de novo domestication of plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The domestication process in long‐lived plant perennials differs dramatically from that of annuals, with a huge amount of genetic exchange between crop and wild populations. Though apple is a major fruit crop grown worldwide, the contribution of wild apple species to the genetic makeup of the cultivated apple genome remains a topic of intense study. We used population genomics approaches to investigate the contributions of several wild apple species to European and Chinese rootstock and dessert genomes, with a focus on the extent of wild–crop gene flow. Population genetic structure inferences revealed that the East Asian wild apples, Malus baccata (L.) Borkh and M. hupehensis (Pamp.), form a single panmictic group, and that the European dessert and rootstock apples form a specific gene pool whereas the Chinese dessert and rootstock apples were a mixture of three wild gene pools, suggesting different evolutionary histories of European and Chinese apple varieties. Coalescent‐based inferences and gene flow estimates indicated that M. baccata – M. hupehensis contributed to the genome of both European and Chinese cultivated apples through wild‐to‐crop introgressions, and not as an initial contributor as previously supposed. We also confirmed the contribution through wild‐to‐crop introgressions of Malus sylvestris Mill. to the cultivated apple genome. Apple tree domestication is therefore one example in woody perennials that involved gene flow from several wild species from multiple geographical areas. This study provides an example of a complex protracted process of domestication in long‐lived plant perennials, and is a starting point for apple breeding programmes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genomic selection (GS) is an option for plant domestication that offers high efficiency in improving genetics. However, GS is often not feasible for long-lived tree species with large and complex genomes. In this paper, we investigated UAV multispectral imagery in time series to evaluate genetic variation in tree growth and developed a new predictive approach that is independent of sequencing or pedigrees based on multispectral imagery plus vegetation indices (VIs) for slash pine. Results show that temporal factors have a strong influence on the h2 of tree growth traits. High genetic correlations were found in most months, and genetic gain also showed a slight influence on the time series. Using a consistent ranking of family breeding values, optimal slash pine families were selected, obtaining a promising and reliable predictive ability based on multispectral+VIs (MV) alone or on the combination of pedigree and MV. The highest predictive value, ranging from 0.52 to 0.56, was found in July. The methods described in this paper provide new approaches for phenotypic selection (PS) using high-throughput multispectral unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology, which could potentially be used to reduce the generation time for conifer species and increase the genetic granularity independent of sequencing or pedigrees. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this project, domestication of one of the wild flowering plants, Achillea millefolium L. (yarrow plant) was done to find out its resistance to drought stress condition. Plant samples were collected from the Isfahan region of Iran and were further multiplied by divisions of plants. The study was conducted on the improvement of seeds germination using GA3, morphological and phenological study and to estimate drought tolerance of yarrow plants. The seeds of selected plants were treated with GA3 hormone (0, 250 and 500 ppm) to break the dormancy and improve the germination percentage. GA3 treatment improved the seed quality parameters and the best results were obtained with GA3 @ 500 ppm. The plants propagated through division were cultivated in the field for the domestication of plants and to estimate their potential for landscape purposes. Also, the Phenological cycle of plants was monitored. Attractive flowers, Long duration of flowering and applying green cover during the year was positive points of yarrow for using in the landscape. Irrigation was applied at 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% levels of available water from April to September. Morphological and physiological parameters showed that A. millefolium could significantly tolerate drought treatments until 50% of available water and even at 75%, plants could survive and produce new stems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Atriplex patula is a wild plant from the Chenopodiaceae family that has medicinal, nutritional, fodder and dedesertification applications. In order to determine the type of seed dormancy and characteristics of germination and the method of breaking dormancy and determining the cardinal temperatures of germination in this species, two experiments were conducted separately. In the first experiment, the first factor, potassium nitrate was evaluated at 4 levels and cold stratification as the second factor at 3 levels. The percentage and rate of seed germination were calculated. The second experiment was conducted to determine the germination cardinal temperatures, by 9 temperature levels (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40?) and by determining the germination rate and fitting the most suitable regression model between temperature and germination rate. In both experiments, each treatment had 4 replications of 25 seeds and the percentage and germination rate were calculated. The results showed that potassium nitrate with a concentration of 250 mg/liter along with cold stratification at 3°C for one week had the most positive effect on the breaking of seed dormancy and the germination percentage and germination rate. the rate and percentage of germination reached 8.16 and 90%, respectively. In the second experiment, the cardinal germination temperatures, including the minimum, optimum and maximum temperatures, were obtained as 1.86°C, 22.5°C and 38.89°C, respectively, and the toothed regression model showed the best fit. According to these findings, seed dormancy in Atriplex patula was determined to be of non-deep physiological type. Introduction Wild grassland plants are among the sources that have been considered for new food sources with the rapid increase of the world population and can be used as agricultural plants in the future. Atriplex patula is a herb of the Chenopodiaceae family, which has been reported for its medicinal, nutritional, fodder and dedesertification uses. Atriplex species are halophytes that are distributed in a variety of saline habitats, including the margins of wetlands, coastal areas, hills, and deserts (Bueno et al., 2017). These plants are suitable for dry and semi-arid degraded pastures in terms of compatibility with the environment, being evergreen and growing in poor and salty lands. Domestication of wild plants has obstacles, one of which is the existence of seed dormancy and, as a result, the problem of germination, so in order to improve seed germination, it is necessary to apply treatments to remove the obstacles to germination. According to the type and depth of seed dormancy, various treatments have been proposed to break dormancy and stimulate plant seed germination, which also depends on the genotype of the plant species. In order to determine the type of dormancy and characteristics of germination and a method for breaking dormancy and determining germination cardinal temperatures in this species, two experiments were conducted separately. Materials and Methods The first experiment was conducted as a factorial in a completely randomized design with two factors. The first factor was potassium nitrate at 4 levels (0, 250, 500 and 750 mg.L-1) and the second factor was cold stratification at 3 levels (without cold stratification and cold stratification at +3? and +6?). The number of treatments was 12 and 25 seeds were used in 4 repetitions. The rate and percentage of seed germination were calculated. In order to determine the germination cardinal temperatures, an experiment was conducted in a completely random design by 9 temperature levels (0, 5, 10, 15, 20, 25, 30, 35 and 40?). Each treatment had 4 replications of 25 seeds. this experiment was done by determining the germination rate and fitting the most suitable regression model between temperature and germination rate. Results and Disscussion The results of variance analysis of the effect of treatments used to break seed dormancy in this research, showed that the germination percentage of Atriplex patula seeds and their germination rate were significantly affected by the application of potassium nitrate, and cold stratification, and the interaction of these two treatments with a probability level of 99% (P<0.01). Based on the results, potassium nitrate (250 mg.L-1) along with cold stratification at 3°C for one week had the most positive effect on seed dormancy breaking and increasing the germination percentage and rate. The rate and percentage germination reached 8.16 and 90% respectively by this treatment. The lowest germination percentage was related to the control treatment (0 mg.L-1 potassium nitrate x without cold stratification), and the highest germination percentage was 90.00%, related to the interaction of two factors of potassium nitrate 250 mg.liter-1 x cold stratification at 3?. Cold stratification treatment had a greater effect on seed dormancybreaking than potassium nitrate treatment. The lack of cold stratification, in different concentrations of potassium nitrate, decreased the germination percentage of seeds, although the treatment of seeds with different concentrations of potassium nitrate had a significant difference with the control treatment, but without the wet cooling treatment, the germination percentage decreased. In the second experiment, the germination cardinal temperature, including the minimum, optimal, and maximum temperatures, were obtained as 1.86, 22.51, and 38.89?, respectively, and the best model was chosen to be the cardinal temperatures of the tooth-like model. The lowest germination rate (0.4) was observed at 5°C. With the increase in temperature from 5°C to above, the germination rate increased and at 25°C, the highest germination rate was achieved. From the temperature of 25°C and above, the germination rate decreased with a significant difference. Different temperatures with their effect on germination may be useful for evaluating the characteristics of germination and establishment potential of plant species. The issue that should be noted is that the germination rate is more important than the germination percentage in the discussion of plant establishment, because the faster the germination, the more likely the roots will come out of the soil and absorb soil moisture and result better establishment of the seedling (Hashemi et al., 2017). Conclusion According to the results of the present research, it was found that seed dormancy in Atriplex patula is of non-deep physiological type. Cold stratification at 3°C is more effective than potassium nitrate in breaking seed dormancy of this plant. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human and animal nutrition is mainly based on seeds. Seed size is a key factor affecting seed yield and has thus been one of the primary objectives of plant breeders since the domestication of crop plants. Seed size is coordinately regulated by signals of maternal and zygotic tissues that control the growth of the seed coat, endosperm and embryo. Here, we provide previously unreported evidence for the role of DELLA proteins, key repressors of gibberellin responses, in the maternal control of seed size. The gain-of-function della mutant gai-1 produces larger seeds as a result of an increase in the cell number in ovule integuments. This leads to an increase in ovule size and, in turn, to an increase in seed size. Moreover, DELLA activity promotes increased seed size by inducing the transcriptional activation of AINTEGUMENTA, a genetic factor that controls cell proliferation and organ growth, in the ovule integuments of gai-1. Overall, our results indicate that DELLA proteins are involved in the control of seed size and suggest that modulation of the DELLA-dependent pathway could be used to improve crop yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Crop domestication and the subsequent expansion of crops have long been thought of as a linear process from a wild ancestor to a domesticate. However, evidence of gene flow from locally adapted wild relatives that provided adaptive alleles into crops has been identified in multiple species. Yet, little is known about the evolutionary consequences of gene flow during domestication and the interaction of gene flow and genetic load in crop populations. We study the pseudo-cereal grain amaranth that has been domesticated three times in different geographic regions of the Americas. We quantify the amount and distribution of gene flow and genetic load along the genome of the three grain amaranth species and their two wild relatives. Our results show ample gene flow between crop species and between crops and their wild relatives. Gene flow from wild relatives decreased genetic load in the three crop species. This suggests that wild relatives could provide evolutionary rescue by replacing deleterious alleles in crops. We assess experimental hybrids between the three crop species and found genetic incompatibilities between one Central American grain amaranth and the other two crop species. These incompatibilities might have created recent reproductive barriers and maintained species integrity today. Together, our results show that gene flow played an important role in the domestication and expansion of grain amaranth, despite genetic species barriers. The domestication of plants was likely not linear and created a genomic mosaic by multiple contributors with varying fitness effects for today's crops. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To document the cultural importance and management of plants with emphasis on food species of Ch'ol communities of Chiapas, Mexico. Methodology: Oriented from ethnoagroecological approach, participatory methodological tools and mixed analysis of the information were applied. Results: The analysis of the cultural importance of edible plants (CII) registered ranges between 0.0005 to 15,500, the high values indicate groups of plants that are consumed more frequently, which shows their roots in the food culture of these peoples. The management criteria in the HG show two practices carried out by the families: ex situ and in situ management. In the first, cultivated plants are mainly registered (40.1%), the second emphasizes four levels of agricultural work, collection (8.4%), tolerance (12.1%), promotion (10.9%) and protection (28.6%); In this sense, the management intensity (MI) recognized species with intervals of 0.2129 + 0.6239. Limitations: the Covid-19 period limited the last coexistence visits to the FPU that were originally contemplated. Conclusions: the vegetable component that is managed in the home garden family constitutes a basic element that defines a sustainable food system. In this sense, together with the valuation of practices of these social groups, family farming may be aiming to build foundations that explain motives involved in the domestication of food plants in Mesoamerica. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND: Plant domestication can alter plant and insect interactions and influence bottom‐up and top‐down effects. However, little is known about the effects of wild, local, and cultivated varieties of the same plant species in the same region on herbivores and their parasitoids. Here, six tobacco varieties were selected: wild Bishan and Badan tobaccos, local Liangqiao and Shuangguan sun‐cured tobaccos, and cultivated Xiangyan 5 and Cunsanpi. We examined how wild, local, and cultivated tobacco types affect the tobacco cutworm herbivore Spodoptera litura and its parasitoid Meteorus pulchricornis. RESULTS: Levels of nicotine and trypsin protease inhibitor in leaves and the fitness of S. litura larvae varied significantly among the varieties. Wild tobacco had the highest levels of nicotine and trypsin protease inhibitor, which reduced the survival rate and prolonged the development period of S. litura. The tobacco types significantly influenced the life history parameters and host selection of M. pulchricornis. The cocoon weight, cocoon emergence rate, adult longevity, hind tibia length, and offspring fecundity of M. pulchricornis increased, whereas the development period decreased from wild to local to cultivated varieties. The parasitoids were more likely to select wild and local varieties than cultivated varieties. CONCLUSION: Domestication of tobacco resulted in reduced resistance to S. litura in cultivated tobacco. Wild tobacco varieties suppress S. litura populations, adversely affect M. pulchricornis, and may enhance bottom‐up and top‐down control of S. litura. © 2023 Society of Chemical Industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

De novo domestication is a novel trend in plant genetics, where traits of wild or semi-wild species are changed by the use of modern precision breeding techniques so that they conform to modern cultivation. Out of more than 300,000 wild plant species, only a few were fully domesticated by humans in prehistory. Moreover, out of these few domesticated species, less than 10 species dominate world agricultural production by more than 80% today. Much of this limited diversity of crop exploitation by modern humans was defined early in prehistory at the emergence of sedentary agro-pastoral cultures that limited the number of crops evolving a favorable domestication syndrome. However, modern plant genetics have revealed the roadmaps of genetic changes that led to these domestication traits. Based on such observations, plant scientists are now taking steps towards using modern breeding technologies to explore the potential of de novo domestication of plant species that were neglected in the past. We suggest here that in this process of de novo domestication, the study of Late Paleolithic/Late Archaic and Early Neolithic/Early Formative exploration of wild plants and identification of neglected species can help identify the barriers towards domestication. Modern breeding technologies may then assist us to break these barriers in order to perform de novo domestication to increase the crop species diversity of modern agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wild rice (Zizania spp.), an aquatic grass belonging to the subfamily Gramineae, has a high economic value. Zizania provides food (such as grains and vegetables), a habitat for wild animals, and paper-making pulps, possesses certain medicinal values, and helps control water eutrophication. Zizania is an ideal resource for expanding and enriching a rice breeding gene bank to naturally preserve valuable characteristics lost during domestication. With the Z. latifolia and Z. palustris genomes completely sequenced, fundamental achievements have been made toward understanding the origin and domestication, as well as the genetic basis of important agronomic traits of this genus, substantially accelerating the domestication of this wild plant. The present review summarizes the research results on the edible history, economic value, domestication, breeding, omics research, and important genes of Z. latifolia and Z. palustris over the past decades. These findings broaden the collective understanding of Zizania domestication and breeding, furthering human domestication, improvement, and long-term sustainability of wild plant cultivation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]