Independent origins of cultivated coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) in the old world tropics.

ABSTRACT: As a portable source of food, water, fuel, and construction materials, the coconut (Cocos nucifera L.) played a fundamental role in human migrations and the development of civilization across the humid tropics. Here we investigated the coconut's domestication history and its population genetic structure as it relates to human dispersal patterns. A sample of 1,322 coconut accessions, representing the geographical and phenotypic diversity of the species, was examined using ten microsatellite loci. Bayesian analyses reveal two highly genetically differentiated subpopulations that correspond to the Pacific and Indo-Atlantic oceanic basins. This pattern suggests independent origins of coconut cultivation in these two world regions, with persistent population structure on a global scale despite

SUBMITTER: Gunn BF 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3120816 | biostudies-literature | 2011

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature