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January 30, 2019PLoS ONEOpen Access

Genetic and phenotypic diversity in 2000 years old maize (Zea mays L.) samples from the Tarapacá region, Atacama Desert, Chile

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Authors

AVAle Vidal-ElguetaLHLuis Felipe HinojosaFPFernánda Pérez

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Overview

Morphological and genetic analysis reveals divergence between ancient and modern maize in the Atacama Desert, suggesting selective breeding and variety replacement across millennia.

Key Points

  • To evaluate how the morphological and genetic diversity of maize changed across a 2,000-year sequence of prehispanic cultivation compared to modern landraces in the Atacama Desert.
  • Measured and compared morphological traits of size and shape across archaeological cobs and kernels spanning 2500 to 400 years BP against 95 ears from modern landraces.
  • Analyzed genetic diversity across archaeological and modern kernels using eight microsatellite (SSR) markers, assessing allelic frequencies, observed heterozygosity, expected heterozygosity, fixation index (FST), and STRUCTURE clustering.
  • Archaeological maize exhibited significant phenotypic divergence and genetic distance compared to modern landraces, alongside low baseline genetic diversity.
  • Archaeological cobs and kernels displayed a progressive increase in size over the 2,000-year archaeological sequence, indicating active human artificial selection during prehispanic times.

Cite This Study

Vidal-Elgueta et al. (2019) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a037ecbda3ba2dcc76b380ehttps://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0210369
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