| Abstract Detail
Solanum Taxonomy - Morning Weese, Terri [1], Bohs, Lynn [1]. Eggplant evolution: a phylogenetic analysis of the Solanum incanum / melongena species complex. SOLANUM melongena, the Brinjal eggplant or aubergine, is an economically important crop plant grown worldwide. The Brinjal eggplant and its close relatives are morphologically plastic and taxonomically complex. They have been informally treated taxonomically as eight species groups (A-H) that are described along a continuum from relatively small fruited, wild plants of eastern Africa (Solanum incanum groups A - D) to primitive and advanced cultivars with larger fruits, first domesticated in Asia (Solanum melongena groups F and G) and ultimately grown worldwide (Solanum melongena group H). Solanum melongena group E is thought to be a feral form of the primitive cultivars in Asia. The taxonomic concepts and ideas regarding the domestication of the Brinjal eggplant establish an evolutionary hypothesis that can be tested in a phylogenetic context. We obtained nuclear and chloroplast DNA sequence data from each of the eight groups in the Solanum incanum / melongena species complex, analyzed the sequences using parsimony and Bayesian methods, and evaluated the phylogeny based on the hypotheses of eggplant domestication. Our phylogeny corresponds closely with the hypothesized domestication of the Brinjal eggplant. The equatorial east African groups A and B are closely related and are sister to the rest of the Solanum incanum / melongena complex. The African groups (A - D) form a grade, with group C sister to the monophyletic Asian groups (E - H). Cultivars were developed from the Asian groups, including the familiar Brinjal eggplant that is now grown worldwide (group H). Solanum aethiopicum (the scarlet eggplant) and S. macrocarpon (the gboma eggplant) are derived independently within Solanum subgenus Leptostemonum, and similarities in fruit size and shape in the species referred to as “eggplants” are due to convergence.
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1 - University of Utah, Department of Biology, 257 South 1400 East, Salt Lake City, UT, 84112, USA
Keywords:
eggplant
Solanum incanum
Solanum melongena.
Session: SAT02-10
Location: Hall of Ideas Room F/Monona Terrace
Date: Wednesday, July 26th, 2006
Time: 10:30 AM
Abstract ID:113 |
