First Glimpse on Spring Starflower Domestication

AGOSTINA SASSONE; FRANK R. BLATTNER; GIUSSANI LILIANA MONICA; DIEGO H. HOJSGAARD

Genes

MDPI

Lugar: Basel; Año: 2022 vol. 13 p. 243 - 256

Abstract: The cultivation and domestication of plants are human-driven processes that change thebiology and attributes of a plant. Ipheion uniflorum is a bulbous geophyte known as Spring Starflowerwhose cultivation dates back to the first half of the 19th century. At least seven cultivars have beendeveloped from natural stands. However, comparative analyses of wild and cultivated materials arelargely missing. In the present study, we provide a morphological evaluation and analyses of thecytological and genetic variability of I. uniflorum that reveal significant levels of differentiation andevidence of artificial selection in the Spring Starflower. Distinctive phenotypic characters in cultivatedmaterials that are rarely found or lacking in wild plants and natural populations, such as pink orviolet flowers, together with its reduced heterozygosity and starting genetic differentiation supportthe view of early mechanisms of domestication acting upon Spring Starflower plants. The probablegeographic origin of the cultivated forms is discussed together with perspectives for plant breeding