Morocco as a possible domestication center for barley: biochemical and agromorphological evidence

Abstract

Summary. The disiribution of geneüc variants of a group of low molecular weight, chloroform-methanol soluble proteins (CM proteins), among Moroccan and non-Moroccan accessions of Hordeum sponianeum and among selections from several Moroccan landraces of H. vulgare and cultivars of the same species with widespread European origin, suggests that domestication of barley might have taken place in Morocco. An agromorphological characterization of the H. sponianeum accessions further supports this hypothesis. The possible Moroccan origin of the French cultivar "Hatif de Grignon' and of several Spanish 6-rowed barleys is also presented.

Sources of powdery mildew resistance in barley landraces from morocco

“…Recently, the discovery of wild barley in Morocco has been reported (Molina-Cano and Conde, 1980;MolinaCano et al, 1982). This finding suggest that the area of North Africa may be possible center of origin for cultivated barley and that barley may be a multicentric crop, domesticated along the Mediterranean basin (Molina-Cano et al, 1987, 1999Moralejo et al, 1994). Taking this into account, barley landraces collected from Morocco may be rich source of new genes for resistance to powdery mildew due to their high degree of diversification resulting from the long coevolution with populations of pathogen.…”

Agricultural Origins: Centers and Noncenters; A Near Eastern Reappraisal

“…Apparently this debate is far from being resolved (Allaby et al, 2008a;2008b;Ross-Ibarra and Gaut, 2008;Brown et al, 2009;Honne and Heun, 2009 Einkorn and emmer wheat, barley Distribution of the wild progenitors Allaby et al 2003Allaby et al , 2004Allaby et al , 2008aAllaby et al , 2008b Not specified Population genetics based on computer based modeling Brown et al 2009 Barley, einkorn wheat Review of DNA polymorphism and archaeobotanical data Tanno and Willcox 2006 Einkorn and emmer wheat Archaeobotany Nesbitt 2002Nesbitt , 2004 Cereals Archaeobotany Morrell and Clegg 2007, Badr et al 2000Barley DNA polymorphism Ladizinsky 1998, Ladizinsky and Genizi 2001 Barley Allozyme polymorphism (interpretation of published data) Kilian et al 2007 Einkorn wheat DNA polymorphism Molina-Cano et al 1987, 2005, Orabi et al 2007 Barley Allozyme, and DNA polymorphism * See section III for our interpretation of Kilian et al's data, which grants support of a 'core area. '…”

“…Quite a number of researchers, among them Willcox (2005) Willcox (2005) for example, suggests that each cereal species was domesticated in a different place by virtue of its varying ecological preferences. Additional arguments are building on studies of individual crop species -for example, multiple, independent domestication events proposed for einkorn in the Karacada region, Turkey (Kilian et al, 2007); and for barley in the Near East (Ladizinsky, 1998b;Morrell and Clegg, 2007), Central Asia (Takahashi, 1955;Morrell and Clegg, 2007), Ethiopia (Bekele, 1983;Orabi et al, 2007), and Morocco (Molina-Cano et al, 1987;2005).…”

A Multigene Family of Trypsin/α-Amylase Inhibitors from Cereals

“…A wellstudied case of intra-chromosomal duplication is that affecting the Itrl locus in Hordeum vulgare and H. spontaneum. A single active Itrl gene is present in most H. vulgare cultivars, whereas a duplication of this locus exists in some H. vulgare cultivars and in most H. spontaneum accessions, and the duplication shows divergent phenotypes within the latter species leading both to active trypsin inhibitors or to pseudogenes (Molina-Cano et al, 1987;Royo et al, submitted;Salcedo et al, 1984;). As to the possible interchromosomal dispersal mechanism, it is to be noted that the Itrl gene has been shown to be located next to the long terminal repeat of the "copia-like" retro-transposon Bare-1, which suggests that transposition may have played a role in the dispersal of the members of this multigene family (Royo et ai, 1996) ii) The possible coevolution of the plant inhibitors and the insect enzymes is suggested indirectly by the available evidence.…”