evolutionary ecology of clonally propagated domesticated plants

• Published in: The New phytologist Vol. 186; no. 2; pp. 318 - 332
• Main Authors: McKey, Doyle, Elias, Marianne, Pujol, Benoît, Duputié, Anne
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Oxford, UK Oxford, UK : Blackwell Publishing Ltd 01-04-2010; Blackwell Publishing; Blackwell Publishing Ltd; Wiley Subscription Services, Inc; Wiley
• Subjects: Adaptive systems; Biodiversity; Biological Evolution; Biology; Biotechnology; Cassava; Clonal propagation; Clone Cells; Crop ecology; crop plants; Crop yield; Crops; Crops, Agricultural - genetics; Crops, Agricultural - growth & development; Domestication; domestication syndrome; Ecological genetics; Ecology; Ecology, environment; Evolution; Farmers; genetic diversity; genetic variation; Genetics; Genotypes; inbreeding; Life Sciences; Manihot esculenta; mating system; Models, Biological; Plant domestication; Plants; Populations and Evolution; Propagules; Reproduction (biology); Reproductive system; resource allocation; Seeds; Sexual reproduction; Sustainable agriculture; Tansley reviews; Tissue Culture Techniques - methods; traditional crop management
• ISSN: 0028-646X; 1469-8137
• DOI: 10.1111/j.1469-8137.2010.03210.x

While seed-propagated crops have contributed many evolutionary insights, evolutionary biologists have often neglected clonally propagated crops. We argue that widespread notions about their evolution under domestication are oversimplified, and that they offer rich material for evolutionary studies. The diversity of their wild ancestors, the diverse ecologies of the crop populations themselves, and the intricate mix of selection pressures, acting not only on the parts harvested but also on the parts used by humans to make clonal propagules, result in complex and diverse evolutionary trajectories under domestication. We examine why farmers propagate some plants clonally, and discuss the evolutionary dynamics of sexual reproduction in clonal crops. We explore how their mixed clonal/sexual reproductive systems function, based on the sole example studied in detail, cassava (Manihot esculenta). Biotechnology is now expanding the number of clonal crops, continuing the 10 000-yr-old trend to increase crop yields by propagating elite genotypes. In an era of rapid global change, it is more important than ever to understand how the adaptive potential of clonal crops can be maintained. A key component of strategies for preserving this adaptive potential is the maintenance of mixed clonal/sexual systems, which can be achieved by encouraging and valuing farmer knowledge about the sexual reproductive biology of their clonal crops.