Did the house mouse (Mus musculus L.) shape the evolutionary trajectory of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.)?

Ecology and Evolution

C. F. Morris²  E. P. Fuerst¹  B. S. Beecher²  D. J. Mclean³  C. P. James² 

[1] Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington;USDA-ARS Western Wheat Quality Laboratory, Pullman, Washington;Center for Reproductive Biology and the Department of Animal Science, Washington State University, Pullman, Washington

关键词: Grain hardness;    house mouse;    kernel texture;    puroindolines;    wheat;   

DOI  :  10.1002/ece3.724

来源: Wiley

【 摘 要 】

Abstract

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) is one of the most successful domesticated plant species in the world. The majority of wheat carries mutations in the Puroindoline genes that result in a hard kernel phenotype. An evolutionary explanation, or selective advantage, for the spread and persistence of these hard kernel mutations has yet to be established. Here, we demonstrate that the house mouse (Mus musculus L.) exerts a pronounced feeding preference for soft over hard kernels. When allele frequencies ranged from 0.5 to 0.009, mouse predation increased the hard allele frequency as much as 10-fold. Studies involving a single hard kernel mixed with ~1000 soft kernels failed to recover the mutant kernel. Nevertheless, the study clearly demonstrates that the house mouse could have played a role in the evolution of wheat, and therefore the cultural trajectory of humankind.

【 授权许可】

CC BY   
© 2013 The Authors. Ecology and Evolution published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.