Ancient DNA typing indicates that the “new” glume wheat of early Eurasian agriculture is a cultivated member of the Triticum timopheevii group

Abstract

We used polymerase chain reactions specific for the wheat B and G genomes with nine accessions of the "new" glume wheat (NGW), a type of cultivated wheat that was present across western Asia and Europe during the Neolithic and Bronze Ages but which apparently died out before the end of the 1 st millennium BC. DNA sequences from the G genome were detected in two NGW accessions, the first comprising grain from the mid 7 th millennium BC at Çatalhöyük in Turkey, and the second made up of chaff from the later 5 th millennium BC site of Miechowice 4 in Poland. The Miechowice chaff also yielded a B genome sequence, which we ascribe to an admixture of emmer wheat chaff recorded in the sample from which the NGW material was extracted. Our results therefore provide evidence that NGW is a member of the Triticum timopheevii group of wheats. Triticum timopheevii subsp. timopheevii can therefore no longer be looked upon as a minor crop, restricted to western Georgia, but instead must be viewed as a significant component of prehistoric Eurasian agriculture, with implications for our understanding of the origins of agriculture in southwest Asia.

Genetic diversity, distribution and domestication history of the neglected GGAtAtgenepool of wheat

“…DNA sequences from the G genome were detected in two of these samples, the first comprising grain from the mid 7 th millennium BC at Çatalhöyük in Turkey, and the second made up of glume bases from the later 5 th millennium BC site of Miechowice 4 in Poland. These results provide evidence that NGW is indeed a cultivated member of the GGA t A t genepool [Czajkowska et al 2020]. As NGW is a recognized wheat type across a broad geographic area in prehistory, dating back to the 9 th millennium BC in SW Asia, this indicates that T. timopheevii (sensu lato, s.l.…”

“…As NGW is a recognized wheat type across a broad geographic area in prehistory, dating back to the 9 th millennium BC in SW Asia, this indicates that T. timopheevii (sensu lato, s.l. = domesticated GGA t A t wheat in general), was domesticated from T. araraticum during early agriculture, and was widely cultivated in the prehistoric past [Czajkowska et al 2020].…”

“…Recently, polymerase chain reactions specific for the wheat B and G genomes, and extraction procedures optimized for retrieval of DNA fragments from heat-damaged charred material, have been used to identify archaeological finds of NGW (Czajkowska et al 2020). DNA sequences from the G genome were detected in two of these samples, the first comprising grain from the mid 7 th millennium BC at Çatalhöyük in Turkey, and the second made up of glume bases from the later 5 th millennium BC site of Miechowice 4 in Poland.…”

Sheep and wheat domestication in southwest Asia: a meta-trajectory of intensification and loss

“…The first domesticated wheats were, like their wild progenitors, “hulled” or “glume” wheats, meaning that their kernels are tightly enclosed in the spikelet by tough glumes that do not break off during threshing and which therefore require dehusking to release the kernels ( Figure 3 ). In addition to einkorn and emmer, an apparently distinct domestication of Timopheev’s wheat ( Table 2 ) is indicated by a recent archeogenetic study identifying as such the extinct “new glume wheat” known from the Neolithic archeobotanical record in Anatolia and the Balkans ( Czajkowska et al, 2020 ). New glume wheat was cultivated for millennia before its extinction, but other forms of domesticated Timopheev’s wheat are extant ( Jones et al, 2000 ).…”

Special Issue: Breeding Towards Agricultural Sustainability - Invited

“…Recently, polymerase chain reactions speci c for the wheat B and G genomes, and extraction procedures optimized for retrieval of DNA fragments from heat-damaged charred material, have been used to identify archaeological nds of NGW (Czajkowska et al 2020). DNA sequences from the G genome were detected in two of these samples, the rst comprising grain from the mid 7th millennium BC at Çatalhöyük in Turkey, and the second made up of glume bases from the later 5th millennium BC site of Miechowice 4 in Poland.…”