title: Evidence of a Strong Domestication Bottleneck in the Recently Cultivated New Zealand Endemic Root Crop, Arthropodium cirratum (Asparagaceae).
abstract: We use chloroplast DNA sequencing to examine aspects of the pre-European Māori cultivation of an endemic New Zealand root crop, Arthropodium cirratum (rengarenga). Researching the early stages of domestication is not possible for the majority of crops, because their cultivation began many thousands of years ago and/or they have been substantially altered by modern breeding methods. We found high levels of genetic variation and structuring characterised the natural distribution of A. cirratum, while the translocated populations only retained low levels of this diversity, indicating a strong bottleneck even at the early stages of this species' cultivation. The high structuring detected at four chloroplast loci within the natural A. cirratum range enabled the putative source(s) of the translocated populations to be identified as most likely located in the eastern Bay of Plenty/East Cape region. The high structuring within A. cirratum also has implications for the conservation of genetic diversity within this species, which has undergone recent declines in both its natural and translocated ranges.
authors.affiliation: Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand.|School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Wellington, New Zealand.|Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Lara D
authors.initials: LD
authors.lastname: Shepherd
authors.affiliation: Science and Capability Group, Terrestrial Ecosystems, Department of Conservation, Newton, Auckland, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: de Lange
authors.affiliation: Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Simon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cox
authors.affiliation: Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Patricia A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: McLenachan
authors.affiliation: Institute of Agriculture and Environment, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Nick R
authors.initials: NR
authors.lastname: Roskruge
authors.affiliation: Institute of Fundamental Sciences, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Peter J
authors.initials: PJ
authors.lastname: Lockhart
mesh_terms: D018742:DNA, Chloroplast / Q000235:genetics*; D018744:DNA, Plant / Q000235:genetics; D014644:Genetic Variation; D005843:Geography; D006239:Haplotypes; D019668:Liliaceae / Q000235:genetics*; D009520:New Zealand; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000235:genetics; D058974:Phylogeography; D010946:Plants, Medicinal / Q000235:genetics*; D016133:Polymerase Chain Reaction; D017422:Sequence Analysis, DNA
chemical_list: D018742:DNA, Chloroplast; D018744:DNA, Plant; D009711:Nucleotides