image: Wild Phoenix theophrasti palms in Preveli Gorge, Crete. view more
Credit: Image courtesy of Jonathan M. Flowers.
A study on the origin of date palms (Phoenix dactylifera L.) in North Africa in which researchers resequenced the genomes of 71 date palm cultivars and five wild relatives that are part of the genus Phoenix found that North African P. dactylifera has a mixed ancestry stemming from hybridization with the wild relative P. theophrasti, a palm found on the island of Crete; around 18% of the P. dactylifera genome can be traced to P. theophrasti, according to the authors.
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Article #18-17453: "Cross-species hybridization and the origin of North African date palms," by Jonathan M. Flowers et al.
MEDIA CONTACT: Michael D. Purugganan, New York University, NY; tel: 917-226-7195; email: mp132@nyu.edu
Journal
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences