Cross-species hybridization and the origin of North African date palms

Flowers, Jonathan M.; Hazzouri, Khaled M.; Gros-Balthazard, Muriel; Mo, Ziyi; Koutroumpa, Konstantina; Perrakis, Andreas; Ferrand, Sylvie; Khierallah, Hussam S. M.; Fuller, Dorian Q.; Aberlenc, Frédérique; Fournaraki, Christini; Purugganan, Michael D.

doi:10.1073/pnas.1817453116

Cited by 105 publications

(174 citation statements)

References 57 publications

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“…These accessions also have ancestry that is mostly attributed to date palm in the Structure analysis ( Figure 4C). This could indicate potential gene flow from the date palm to this wild relative, as previously reported (Flowers et al, 2019).…”

Section: Diversity At the Chloroplast Minisatellite In Siwa And Worldsupporting

confidence: 78%

“…Beyond the peculiar history of Siwa Oasis, the scenarios of the beginning of date palm cultivation in Egypt in particular, and in North Africa in general, remain incomplete. Older evidence of exploitation are found around the Persian Gulf while it seems that in North Africa, cultivation is more recent (Flowers et al, 2019;Tengberg, 2012). In Egypt, the date palm seems exploited or cultivated sporadically since the Old Kingdom (about 2700-2200 BCE), but phoeniculture is only established since the New Kingdom, about 1600-1100 BCE (Tengberg and Newton, 2016).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…In Egypt, the date palm seems exploited or cultivated sporadically since the Old Kingdom (about 2700-2200 BCE), but phoeniculture is only established since the New Kingdom, about 1600-1100 BCE (Tengberg and Newton, 2016). Genetic analyses of the current date palm germplasm identified two differentiated genetic clusters in North Africa and the Middle East, with evidence of gene flows, especially in Egypt (Flowers et al, 2019;Gros-Balthazard et al, 2017;Hazzouri & Flowers, et al, 2015;Zehdi-Azouzi et al, 2015). A recent study showed that the cultivated North African pool has mixed ancestry from Middle Eastern date palms and the Aegean endemic wild relative Phoenix theophrasti Greuter, a.k.a.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Integration of ethnobotany and population genetics uncovers the agrobiodiversity of date palms of Siwa Oasis (Egypt) and their importance to the evolutionary history of the species

Gros-Balthazard

Battesti

Ivorra

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Crop diversity is shaped by biological and social processes interacting at different spatiotemporal scales. Here we combined population genetics and ethnobotany to investigate date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) diversity in Siwa Oasis, Egypt. Based on interviews with farmers and observation of practices in the field, we collected 149 date palms from Siwa Oasis and 27 uncultivated date palms from abandoned oases in the surrounding desert. Using genotyping data from 18 nuclear and plastid microsatellite loci, we confirmed that some named types each constitute a clonal line, i.e. a true-to-type cultivar. We also found that others are collections of clonal lines, i.e. ethnovarieties, or even unrelated samples, i.e. local categories. This alters current assessments of agrobiodiversity, which are visibly underestimated, and uncovers the impact of low-intensity, but highly effective, farming practices on biodiversity. These hardly observable practices, hypothesized by ethnographic survey and confirmed by genetic analysis, are enabled by the way Isiwans conceive and classify living beings in their oasis, which do not quite match the way biologists do: a classic disparity of etic vs. emic categorizations. In addition, we established that Siwa date palms represent a unique and highly diverse genetic cluster, rather than a subset of North African and Middle Eastern palm diversity. As previously shown, North African date palms display evidence of introgression by the wild relative Phoenix theophrasti, and we found that the uncultivated date palms from the abandoned oases share even more alleles with this species than cultivated palms in this region. The study of Siwa date palms could hence be a key to the understanding of date palm diversification in North Africa. Integration of ethnography and population genetics promoted the understanding of the interplay between diversity management in the oasis (short-time scale), and the origins and dynamic of diversity through domestication and diversification (long-time scale).

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Section: Diversity At the Chloroplast Minisatellite In Siwa And Worldsupporting

confidence: 78%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Integration of ethnobotany and population genetics uncovers the agrobiodiversity of date palms of Siwa Oasis (Egypt) and their importance to the evolutionary history of the species

Gros-Balthazard

Battesti

Ivorra

et al. 2019

Preprint

Self Cite

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“…This model of domestication, with introgression from wild relatives leading to cultivars closely related to their secondary progenitor, has already been observed in other perennials such as grape (Myles et al ., ), apple (Cornille et al ., ) and date palm (Gros‐Balthazard et al ., ; Flowers et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Interestingly, the western cultivars showed the largest nucleotide diversity, in line with their mixed ancestry including both eastern cultivated accessions and western oleasters. This high level of genetic diversity following a secondary contact of the cultivated gene pool with other wild relative populations has already been described in olives (Díez et al ., ) and in other crops such as the grape vine (Myles et al ., ) or the date palm (Gros‐Balthazard et al ., ; Flowers et al ., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Evolutionary transcriptomics reveals the origins of olives and the genomic changes associated with their domestication

et al. 2019

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SummaryThe olive (Olea europaea L. subsp. europaea) is one of the oldest and most socio‐economically important cultivated perennial crop in the Mediterranean region. Yet, its origins are still under debate and the genetic bases of the phenotypic changes associated with its domestication are unknown. We generated RNA‐sequencing data for 68 wild and cultivated olive trees to study the genetic diversity and structure both at the transcription and sequence levels. To localize putative genes or expression pathways targeted by artificial selection during domestication, we employed a two‐step approach in which we identified differentially expressed genes and screened the transcriptome for signatures of selection. Our analyses support a major domestication event in the eastern part of the Mediterranean basin followed by dispersion towards the West and subsequent admixture with western wild olives. While we found large changes in gene expression when comparing cultivated and wild olives, we found no major signature of selection on coding variants and weak signals primarily affected transcription factors. Our results indicated that the domestication of olives resulted in only moderate genomic consequences and that the domestication syndrome is mainly related to changes in gene expression, consistent with its evolutionary history and life history traits.

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The Genomics of Date Palms: Current Perspectives

Capote

Flowers

Hazzouri

et al. 2021

Annual Plant Reviews Online

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The date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) is one of the most important fruit crops in the world and is especially important in the arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa. Although both economically and culturally important, the biology of date palms remains obscure. In the last decade, however, there have been major advances in genomic studies of this important crop species. Multiple reference genomes are now available, which has facilitated identification of genes underlying major traits such as sex, fruit colour and sugar composition. Moreover, whole‐genome re‐sequencing from some of the approximately 3000 date palm varieties have provided crucial insights into the diversity and evolution of this perennial tree crop. The overview of the field highlights major advances and also provides a guidepost for future challenges.

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Cross-species hybridization and the origin of North African date palms

Cited by 105 publications

References 57 publications

Integration of ethnobotany and population genetics uncovers the agrobiodiversity of date palms of Siwa Oasis (Egypt) and their importance to the evolutionary history of the species

Integration of ethnobotany and population genetics uncovers the agrobiodiversity of date palms of Siwa Oasis (Egypt) and their importance to the evolutionary history of the species

Evolutionary transcriptomics reveals the origins of olives and the genomic changes associated with their domestication

The Genomics of Date Palms: Current Perspectives

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