Evolution of crop phenotypic spaces through domestication

As part of the ANR DomIsol project, we used domestication as a repeated in vivo experiment to investigate how divergent selection has shaped the evolution of phenotypic spaces in plants. We studied 13 species with varied and more or less ancient evolutionary histories, three of which are studied at GAFL: aubergine, melon and tomato

Our study highlights the emergence of common patterns underlying domestication across all species, with significant convergence of the domestication syndrome between species, a marked disjunction between wild and domestic phenotypic spaces, a reduction in phenotypic space during domestication, and a reorganisation of correlations between phenotypic traits.

To enable comparisons between species, we introduce a new multivariate phenotypic divergence index (mPDI), which is based on near-infrared spectra (NIRS). We have shown that NIRS measurements performed on leaves reflect a phenotypic evolution independent of domestication, allowing them to be used as a control for sampling effects between species, whereas NIRS measurements on seeds contribute to the domestication syndrome in many species, highlighting the potential of NIRS technology for characterising domestication-related changes in plants.

https://nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nph.71031