Phylogenetic relationships among domesticated and wild species of Cucurbita (Cucurbitaceae) inferred from a mitochondrial gene: Implications for crop plant evolution and areas of origin.

ABSTRACT: We have investigated the phylogenetic relationships among six wild and six domesticated taxa of Cucurbita using as a marker an intron region from the mitochondrial nad1 gene. Our study represents one of the first successful uses of a mtDNA gene in resolving inter- and intraspecific taxonomic relationships in Angiosperms and yields several important insights into the origins of domesticated Cucurbita. First, our data suggest at least six independent domestication events from distinct wild ancestors. Second, Cucurbita argyrosperma likely was domesticated from a wild Mexican gourd, Cucurbita sororia, probably in the same region of southwest Mexico that gave rise to maize. Third, the wild ancestor of Cucurbita moschata is still unknown, but mtDNA data combined with other sources of information

SUBMITTER: Sanjur OI 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC117595 | biostudies-literature | 2002 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature