Reproductive Isolation during Domestication

It has been hypothesized that reproductive isolation should facilitate evolution under domestication. However, a systematic comparison of reproductive barrier strength between crops and their progenitors has not been conducted to test this hypothesis. Here, we present a systematic survey of reproduc...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Plant cell 2012-07, Vol.24 (7), p.2710-2717
Main Authors: Dempewolf, Hannes, Hodgins, Kathryn A., Rummell, Sonja E., Ellstrand, Norman C., Rieseberg, Loren H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Crops
Crops, Agricultural - genetics
Crops, Agricultural - physiology
Domestication
Evolution
flowering
Gene Flow
geographical isolation
Geography
Hybridity
Magnoliopsida - genetics
Magnoliopsida - physiology
Mating systems
Models, Genetic
Plant domestication
Plants
polyploidy
Reproduction
Reproductive Isolation
REVIEW
Speciation
Species Specificity
surveys
wild relatives
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Summary:It has been hypothesized that reproductive isolation should facilitate evolution under domestication. However, a systematic comparison of reproductive barrier strength between crops and their progenitors has not been conducted to test this hypothesis. Here, we present a systematic survey of reproductive barriers between 32 economically important crop species and their progenitors to better understand the role of reproductive isolation during the domestication process. We took a conservative approach, avoiding those types of reproductive isolation that are poorly known for these taxa (e.g., differences in flowering time). We show that the majority of crops surveyed are isolated from their progenitors by one or more reproductive barriers, despite the fact that the most important reproductive barrier in natural systems, geographical isolation, was absent, at least in the initial stages of domestication for most species. Thus, barriers to reproduction between crops and wild relatives are closely associated with domestication and may facilitate it, thereby raising the question whether reproductive isolation could be viewed as a long-overlooked "domestication trait." Some of the reproductive barriers observed (e.g., polyploidy and uniparental reproduction), however, may have been favored for reasons other than, or in addition to, their effects on gene flow.
ISSN:1040-4651
1532-298X
DOI:10.1105/tpc.112.100115