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Genetics sheds light on origins of farming

Paper: Questions Raised by the Use of Molecular Information in Domestication Studies
Author: Paul Gepts, professor and chair, Department of Agronomy and Range Science
Symposium date and time: Saturday, Feb. 17, 9 a.m. to noon
Symposium name: Understanding Domestication: New Biological and Archaeological Approaches
Online program: http://www.aaas.org/meetings/2001/6068.00.html

Traditionally, both biologists and archaeologists have studied the origins and evolution of crop plants with very little interaction between the two disciplines. In recent years, however, the two fields have been going through something of a "rapprochement" as they pursue greater interaction, says Gepts. An example of that trend is the AAAS symposium on "Understanding Domestication: New Biological and Archaeological Approaches." During his presentation in this symposium, Gepts will suggest that outcrossing between wild and domesticated forms of a plant may have introduced confounding effects that prevent pinpointing the specific geographical region of domestication for that plant. He also will propose that the reason most genes for domestication are linked on specific chromosomes may be that this chromosomal linkage is a necessary condition for domestication to occur in the face of regular outcrossing between wild and domesticated forms of a crop.

Contact: Paul Gepts, Agronomy and Range Science, 530-752-7323, plgepts@ucdavis.edu.

EDITOR'S NOTE: News from AAAS is embargoed until the time of each symposium presentation or news briefing, whichever comes first.

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