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Molecular Evidence of Sugarcane Evolution and Domestication. Rachel Jabaily and Maggie Koopman. Poaceae: Andropogoneae: Saccarum officinarum x S.spontaneum. History of Sugar www.plantcultures.org. Arabic “sukkar” and Sanskrit “sharkara”
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Molecular Evidence of Sugarcane Evolution and Domestication Rachel Jabaily and Maggie Koopman
History of Sugar www.plantcultures.org • Arabic “sukkar” and Sanskrit “sharkara” • Originally cultivated in New Guinea (6000 BC), but crop mainly developed in India • Traditionally used in Indian in religious ceremonies and to treat leprosy/gallstones. Referred to in Sanskrit texts from 600 BC. • Chewed initially, then boiled for sweet water. • Arab traders moved to Egypt and the Mediterranean. Major trading ports in Italy. • Planted in the New World 15 years after Columbus
Sugar today • Brazil, India, China, Thailand, Pakistan, Mexico, Australia top producers • 70% cane, 30% beet (but really, mostly HFCS)
Historical theories • Role of S. barberi, S. sinense in cultivation • Crossing between Saccharum and other genera? (Erianthus, Miscanthus, Sclerostacha, Narenga) • Interspecific hybrid origin of S. officinarum
S. sinense S. barberi S. spontaneum x S. robustum S. edule S. officinarum Modern cultivars
Nobelization S. officinarum (female) S. spontaneum (male) F1 High sugar cultivar -occurred in the 19th century in Java and India from just a few initial clones
S. robustum, S. officinarum x8 S. spontaneum x10 (highly variable chromosome number)
“Sweet” questions • How does the mode of crop reproduction (ie. Clonal vs. seed setting) contribute to the genetics of domestication? • Does high ploidy number correspond to high sweetness? • There seems to be a lack of data on “wild” populations of some of these species/cultivars. Does information on localities/amount confuse or help clarify the picture? • How were researchers initially misled by morphology/flavenoid data and what other problems can high ploidy number create when trying to study the origin of crops? • Do we know anything about the selection of S. robustum clones to produce S. officinarum?
Recent work • Genome mapping with AFLP markers (Hoarau et al 2001) • QTL analysis of cultivars (Hoarau et al 2002)