Ethnobotanical,morphological, phytochemical and molecular evidence for the incipient domestication of Epazote (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Chenopodium ambrosioides</Emphasis> L.: Chenopodiaceae) in a semi-arid region of Mexico |
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| Authors: | Isabelle Blanckaert Martín Paredes-Flores Francisco J Espinosa-García Daniel Piñero Rafael Lira |
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| Institution: | 1.Faculty of Bioscience Engineering,Katholieke Universiteit Leuven,Heverlee,Belgium;2.Laboratorio de Ecología Química, Centro de Investigaciones en Ecosistemas,Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM),Morelia, Michoacán,México;3.Departamento de Ecología Evolutiva, Instituto de Ecología,Universidad Nacional, Autónoma de México (UNAM),México D.F.,México;4.Laboratorio de Recursos Naturales, Unidad de Biotecnología y Prototipos (UBIPRO), Facultad de Estudios Superiores Iztacala (FES-Iztacala),Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México (UNAM),Estado de México,México |
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| Abstract: | Use and management of wild and weedy species may involve artificial selection, which can determine morphological, physiological,
reproductive, and genetic divergences between wild and managed populations, resulting in the initial or incipient phases of
plant domestication. In this study we combined ethnobotanical, morphological, phytochemical and genetic information for analyzing
differences between managed and unmanaged populations of the Mexican edible weed, Epazote (Chenopodium ambrosioides L.), in Santa María Tecomavaca, Oaxaca, a rural community within the Tehuacán-Cuicatlán Biosphere Reserve, Mexico. Our hypothesis
was that differences in morphology (e.g. leave dimensions and density of pubescence), phytochemistry (e.g. flavor, odor, and
amount of strong scented and toxic compounds) and/or molecular genetic markers, between managed and wild populations of Epazote
in Santa María Tecomavaca, would indicate that managed populations have been and/or are under a process of incipient domestication.
Our results revealed the existence in the study area of morphological variants associated with a gradient of management intensity,
which involved apparent improved palatability correlated with a lowering of chemical defense. Most remarkably, we found agreement
in the groupings defined by the cluster analyses of morphological and genetic data. Although Epazote is considered a weed
or, at best, a minor crop, the results from four lines of evidence (cultural differentiation patterns, gigantism, reduction
in chemical defenses, toxic compounds and inheritance of adaptive traits) suggest the existence of an incipient domestication
process in the study zone. |
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