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The limits of selection during maize domestication.

R L Wang¹, A Stec, J Hey

¹Department of Plant Biology, University of Minnesota, St Paul 55108, USA.

|March 27, 1999

Summary

Maize domestication involved selecting preferred traits, but genetic diversity was maintained. Selection primarily impacted the regulatory region of the teosinte branched1 gene, not its protein-coding area.

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Area of Science:

Plant genetics
Crop domestication
Evolutionary biology

Background:

Crop domestication, occurring ~10,000 years ago, involved artificial selection by ancient agriculturalists.
Strong selection during domestication can significantly reduce genetic diversity in crops.
The teosinte branched1 (tb1) gene plays a crucial role in maize evolution and domestication.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the impact of selection on genetic diversity during maize domestication.
To analyze nucleotide polymorphism within the tb1 gene to understand selection's effects.
To determine if selection affected the regulatory or protein-coding regions of tb1.

Main Methods:

Examined nucleotide polymorphism in the teosinte branched1 gene.

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Analyzed selection patterns in both regulatory and protein-coding regions of tb1.

Compared genetic diversity in maize and its wild ancestor.

Main Results:

Selection effects were confined to the regulatory region of tb1, not the protein-coding region.
Despite strong selection, high recombination rates and a long domestication period likely preserved genetic diversity.
Maize exhibits significant genetic variability, consistent with limited effects of selection on its protein-coding genes.

Conclusions:

Maize domestication required centuries and involved selection primarily on regulatory elements of key genes like tb1.
The domestication of maize originated from Balsas teosinte in southwestern Mexico.
Understanding selection patterns is key to explaining crop variability and evolutionary history.