Overview

Darwin's Harvest addresses concerns that we are losing the diversity of crop plants that provide food for most of the world. With contributions from evolutionary biologists, geneticists, agronomists, molecular biologists, and anthropologists, this collection discusses how economic development, loss of heirloom varieties and wild ancestors, and modern agricultural techniques have endangered the genetic diversity needed to keep agricultural crops vital and capable of adaptation. Drawing on the most up-to-date data, the contributors review the utilization of molecular techniques to understand crop evolution. They explore current research on various crop plants of both temperate and tropical origin, including maize, sunflower, avocado, sugarcane, and wheat. The chapters in Darwin's Harvest also provide solid background for understanding many recent discoveries concerning the origins of crops and the influence of human migration and farming practices on the genetics of our modern foods.

Full Product Details

Author:   Timothy Motley ,  Nyree Zerega (Director, Plant Biology and Conservation Master's Program, Northwestern University & The Chicago Botanic Garden) ,  Hugh Cross
Publisher:   Columbia University Press
Imprint:   Columbia University Press
Dimensions:   Width: 15.20cm , Height: 2.50cm , Length: 22.90cm
Weight:   0.652kg
ISBN:  

9780231133166

ISBN 10:   0231133162
Pages:   384
Publication Date:   04 January 2006
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Hardback
Publisher's Status:   Active
Availability:   Manufactured on demand  
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Language:   English

Table of Contents

List of Contributors 1. Crop Plants: Past, Present, and Future, by Timothy J. Motley Part I. Genetics and Origin of Crops : Evolution and Domestication 2. Molecular Evidence and the Evolutionary History of the Domesticated Sunflower, by Loren H. Rieseberg and Abigail V. Harter 3. Molecular Evidence of Sugarcane Evolution and Domestication, by Laurent Grivet, Jean-Christophe Glaszmann, and Angelique D'Hont 4. Maize Origins, Domestication, and Selection, by Edward S. Buckler IV and Natalie M. Stevens 5. Contributions of Tripsacum to Maize Diversity, by Mary W. Eubanks Part II. Systematics and the Origin of Crops: Phylogenetic and Biogeographic Relationships 6. Evolution of Genetic Diversity in Phaseolus vulgaris L., by Roberto Papa, Laura Nanni, Delphine Sicard, Domenico Rau, and Giovanna Attene 7. Cladistic Biogeography of Juglans (Juglandaceae) Based on Chloroplast DNA Intergenic Spacer Sequences, by Mallikarjuna K. Aradhya, Daniel Potter, and Charles J. Simon 8. Origin and Diversification of Chayote, by Hugh Cross, Rafael Lira Saade, and Timothy J. Motley Part III. The Descent of Man: Human History and Crop Evolution 9. Using Modern Landraces of Wheat to Study the Origins of European Agriculture, by Terence A. Brown, Sarah Lindsay, and Robin G. Allaby 10. Breadfruit Origins, Diversity, and Human-Facilitated Distribution, by Nyree Zerega, Diane Ragone, and Timothy J. Motley 11. Genetic Relationship Between Dioscorea alata L. and D. nummularia Lum. as Revealed by AFLP Markers, by Roger Malapa, Jean-Louis Noyer, Jean-Leu Marchand, and Vincent Lebot Part IV. Variation of Plants Under Selection: Agrodiversity and Germplasm Conservation 12. Evolution, Domestication, and Agrobiodiversity in the Tropical Crop Cassava, by Barbara A. Schaal, Kenneth M. Olsen, and Luiz J. C. B. Carvalho 13. Origins, Evolution, and Group Classification of Cultivated Potatoes, by David M. Spooner and Wilbert L. A. Hetterscheid 14. Evolution and Conservation of Clonally Propagated Crops: Insights from AFLP Data and Folk Taxonomy of the Andean Tuber Oca (Oxalis tuberosa ), by Eve Emshwiller 15. Crop Genetics on Modern Farms: Gene Flow Between Crop Populations, by Kenneth Birnbaum Appendix I. Molecular Marker and Sequencing Methods and Related Terms, by Sarah M. Ward Appendix II. Molecular Analyses, by Timothy J. Motley, Hugh Cross, Nyree Zerega, and Mallikarjuna K. Aradhya Index

Reviews

A fascinating collection of cutting-edge analyses. -- Charles R. Clement Economic Botany Vol 60, No3

A fascinating collection of cutting-edge analyses. -- Charles R. Clement * Economic Botany *

A fascinating collection of cutting-edge analyses. -- Charles R. Clement, Economic Botany

Author Information

Timothy J. Motley is associate professor in the Collum Program for Molecular Systematics at The New York Botanical Garden. Nyree Zerega is the director of the Plant Biology and Conservation Program at Northwestern University and the Chicago Botanic Garden. Hugh Cross is a postdoctoral researcher at the National Herbarium of theNetherlands, Leiden University.

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