title: Evolution of the Grain Dispersal System in Barley.
abstract: About 12,000 years ago in the Near East, humans began the transition from hunter-gathering to agriculture-based societies. Barley was a founder crop in this process, and the most important steps in its domestication were mutations in two adjacent, dominant, and complementary genes, through which grains were retained on the inflorescence at maturity, enabling effective harvesting. Independent recessive mutations in each of these genes caused cell wall thickening in a highly specific grain "disarticulation zone," converting the brittle floral axis (the rachis) of the wild-type into a tough, non-brittle form that promoted grain retention. By tracing the evolutionary history of allelic variation in both genes, we conclude that spatially and temporally independent selections of germplasm with a non-brittle rachis were made during the domestication of barley by farmers in the southern and northern regions of the Levant, actions that made a major contribution to the emergence of early agrarian societies.
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pourkheirandish
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Goetz
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Hensel
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Benjamin
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Kilian
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Natesan
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Senthil
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Guoxiong
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Chen
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Mohammad
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sameri
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Perumal
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Azhaguvel
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Shun
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sakuma
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Sidram
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dhanagond
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Rajiv
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Sharma
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Martin
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mascher
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Axel
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Himmelbach
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Gottwald
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Sudha K
authors.initials: SK
authors.lastname: Nair
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Akemi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tagiri
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Fumiko
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Yukuhiro
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoshiaki
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Nagamura
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroyuki
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kanamori
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan.
authors.forename: Takashi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.affiliation: Archéorient CNRS UMR 5133, Université de Lyon II, Jalés, Berrias 07460, France.
authors.forename: George
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Willcox
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zürich, 8008 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Christopher P
authors.initials: CP
authors.lastname: Middleton
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Biology, University of Zürich, 8008 Zürich, Switzerland.
authors.forename: Thomas
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Wicker
authors.affiliation: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Gothenburg, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
authors.forename: Alexander
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Walther
authors.affiliation: University of Dundee, The James Hutton Institute, Invergowrie, Dundee DD2 5DA, UK.
authors.forename: Robbie
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Waugh
authors.affiliation: ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls, School of Agriculture, Food and Wine, University of Adelaide, Waite Campus Glen Osmond, SA 5066, Australia.
authors.forename: Geoffrey B
authors.initials: GB
authors.lastname: Fincher
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Nils
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Stein
authors.affiliation: Leibniz Institute of Plant Genetics and Crop Plant Research (IPK), Gatersleben, 06466 Stadt Seeland, Germany.
authors.forename: Jochen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kumlehn
authors.affiliation: Institute of Plant Science and Resources, Okayama University, 710-0046 Kurashiki, Japan.
authors.forename: Kazuhiro
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Sato
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences, 305-8602 Tsukuba, Japan. Electronic address: takao@affrc.go.jp.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Komatsuda
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001467:Hordeum / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010641:Phenotype; D010940:Plant Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000235:genetics; D058614:Seed Dispersal; D016415:Sequence Alignment
chemical_list: D010940:Plant Proteins