Abstract:
BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Watermelons, Citrullus species (Cucurbitaceae), are native to Africa and have been cultivated since ancient times. The fruit flesh of wild watermelons is watery, but typically hard-textured, pale-coloured and bland or bitter. The familiar sweet dessert watermelons, C. lanatus, featuring non-bitter, tender, well-coloured flesh, have a narrow genetic base, suggesting that they originated from a series of selection events in a single ancestral population. The objective of the present investigation was to determine where dessert watermelons originated and the time frame during which sweet dessert watermelons emerged. KEY FINDINGS:Archaeological remains of watermelons, mostly seeds, that date from 5000 years ago have been found in northeastern Africa. An image of a large, striped, oblong fruit on a tray has been found in an Egyptian tomb that dates to at least 4000 years ago. The Greek word pepon, Latin pepo and Hebrew avattiah of the first centuries CE were used for the same large, thick-rinded, wet fruit which, evidently, was the watermelon. Hebrew literature from the end of the second century CE and Latin literature from the beginning of the sixth century CE present watermelons together with three sweet fruits: figs, table grapes and pomegranates. Wild and primitive watermelons have been observed repeatedly in Sudan and neighbouring countries of northeastern Africa. CONCLUSIONS:The diverse evidence, combined, indicates that northeastern Africa is the centre of origin of the dessert watermelon, that watermelons were domesticated for water and food there over 4000 years ago, and that sweet dessert watermelons emerged in Mediterranean lands by approximately 2000 years ago. Next-generation ancient-DNA sequencing and state-of-the-art genomic analysis offer opportunities to rigorously assess the relationships among ancient and living wild and primitive watermelons from northeastern Africa, modern sweet dessert watermelons and other Citrullus taxa.
journal_name
Ann Botjournal_title
Annals of botanyauthors
Paris HSdoi
10.1093/aob/mcv077subject
Has Abstractpub_date
2015-08-01 00:00:00pages
133-48issue
2eissn
0305-7364issn
1095-8290pii
mcv077journal_volume
116pub_type
杂志文章相关文献
ANNALS OF BOTANY文献大全abstract::This light and electron microscope study revealed that leptosporangiate ferns have highly distinctive gametophyte-sporophyte junctions characterized by sporophytic haustoria, the absence of intraplacental spaces and degenerating cells, and the early appearance of wall ingrowths in both generations. Other notable cytol...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcg160
更新日期:2003-10-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:According to the air-seeding hypothesis, embolism vulnerability in xylem elements is linked directly to bordered pit structure and functioning. To elucidate the adaptive potential of intervessel pits towards fluctuating environmental conditions, two mangrove species with a distinct ecological distri...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcm103
更新日期:2007-08-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Crassula hunua and C. ruamahanga have been taxonomically controversial. Here their distinctiveness is assessed so that their taxonomic and conservation status can be clarified. METHODS:Populations of these two species were analysed using morphological, chromosomal and DNA sequence data. KEY RESULT...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcm294
更新日期:2008-04-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Mikania micrantha, a climbing perennial weed of the family Asteraceae, is native to Latin America and is highly invasive in the tropical belt of Asia, Oceania and Australia. This study was framed to investigate the population structure of M. micrantha at a large spatial scale in Asia and to identify...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcaa044
更新日期:2020-06-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Ecologists are increasingly using plant functional traits to predict community assembly, but few studies have linked functional traits to species' responses to fine-scale resource gradients. In this study, it was tested whether saplings of woody species partition fine-scale gradients in light availa...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcw184
更新日期:2016-12-01 00:00:00
abstract:Background and Aims:In response to a gravitational stimulus, angiosperm trees generally form tension wood on the upper sides of leaning stems in order to reorientate the stems in the vertical direction. It is unclear whether the angle of inclination from the vertical affects tension wood formation. This study was desig...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcy056
更新日期:2018-06-28 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Because of its rapid growth rate, relative ease of transformation, sequenced genome and low gene number relative to Arabidopsis, the tropical fruit tree, Carica papaya, can serve as a complementary genetic model for complex traits. Here, new phenotypes and touch-regulated gene homologues have been i...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcp009
更新日期:2009-04-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUNDS AND AIMS:Thermogenesis in reproductive organs is known from several plant families, including the Araceae. A study was made of the relationship between temperature increase and spadix size in the subfamily Aroideae in order to determine whether the quantitative variation of heat production among species and...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mci157
更新日期:2005-07-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Induction of dehydration tolerance is a key to achieving high survival rates in cryopreservation of plant specimens. It has been reported previously that two-step preculturing with sucrose effectively increased desiccation tolerance in axillary buds of gentian (Gentiana scabra), which allow the buds...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcl054
更新日期:2006-06-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:The water gap is an important morphoanatomical structure in seeds with physical dormancy (PY). It is an environmental signal detector for dormancy break and the route of water into the non-dormant seed. The Convolvulaceae, which consists of subfamilies Convolvuloideae (11 tribes) and Humbertoideae (...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcn217
更新日期:2009-01-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Several biogeographic models have been proposed to explain the colonization and diversification patterns of Macaronesian lineages. In this study, we calculated the diversification rates and explored what model better explains the current distribution of the 15 endemic species to the Canary Islands b...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcaa090
更新日期:2020-05-09 00:00:00
abstract::This study describes the successive stages of development of branches from axillary buds in fully rooted plants of Trifolium repens grown in near optimal conditions, and the way in which this developmental pathway differs when nodal root formation is prevented as plants grow out from a rooted base. Cuttings of a singl...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcf200
更新日期:2002-09-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Breeding for advantageous root traits will play a fundamental role in improving the efficiency of water and nutrient acquisition, closing yield gaps, and underpinning the "Evergreen Revolution" that must match crop production with human demand. SCOPE:This preface provides an overview of a Special Issue of A...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcz162
更新日期:2019-10-10 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Sweet melons, Cucumis melo, are a widely grown and highly prized crop. While melons were familiar in antiquity, they were grown mostly for use of the young fruits, which are similar in appearance and taste to cucumbers, C. sativus. The time and place of emergence of sweet melons is obscure, but they are gene...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcs098
更新日期:2012-07-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Although it was generally assumed that Maxillaria spp. do not produce nectar, in recent years, nectar has been reported for a number of these orchids. Nevertheless, our current understanding of nectary structure and nectar secretion in Maxillaria is based solely on M. coccinea (Jacq.) L.O. Williams ...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mci182
更新日期:2005-08-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Hymenaea stigonocarpa (Fabaceae: Caesalpinioideae) is an endemic tree from the Brazilian cerrado (savanna vegetation), a biome classified as a hotspot for conservation priority. This study investigates the phylogeographic structure of H. stigonocarpa, in order to understand the processes that have l...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcm221
更新日期:2007-12-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Understanding the fate and dynamics of cells during callus formation is essential to understanding totipotency and the mechanisms of somatic embryogenesis. Here, the fate of leaf explant cells during the development of embryogenic callus was investigated in the model legume Medicago truncatula. MET...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcq269
更新日期:2011-04-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Size-asymmetric competition occurs when larger plants have a disproportionate advantage in competition with smaller plants. It has been hypothesized that nutrient heterogeneity may promote it. Experiments testing this hypothesis are inconclusive, and in most cases have evaluated the effects of nutri...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcl093
更新日期:2006-07-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Pollinator specificity facilitates reproductive isolation among plants, and mechanisms that generate specificity influence species boundaries. Long-range volatile attractants, in combination with morphological co-adaptations, are generally regarded as being responsible for maintaining extreme host s...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcs250
更新日期:2013-02-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Pollen is the male gametophyte of higher plants. Upon pollination, it germinates and develops into a fast-growing cytoplasmic extension, the pollen tube, which ultimately delivers the sperm into the ovary. The biological relevance of its role, and the uniqueness of this kind of cellular organization, have ma...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcm208
更新日期:2007-12-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Current understanding of stomatal development in Arabidopsis thaliana is based on mutations producing aberrant, often lethal phenotypes. The aim was to discover if naturally occurring viable phenotypes would be useful for studying stomatal development in a species that enables further molecular anal...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcr060
更新日期:2011-06-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:The maize lrt1 (lateral rootless1) mutant is impaired in its development of lateral roots during early post-embryonic development. The aim of this study was to characterize, in detail, the influences that the mutation exerts on lateral root initiation and the subsequent developments, as well as to d...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mct043
更新日期:2013-07-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Mechanical perturbation is known to inhibit elongation of the inflorescence stem of Arabidopsis thaliana. The phenomenon has been reported widely for both herbaceous and woody plants, and has implications for how plants adjust their size and form to survive in mechanically perturbed environments. Wh...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcq227
更新日期:2011-02-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:It remains unclear whether invasive species can maintain both high biomass and reproductive output across their invaded range. Along latitudinal gradients, allocation theory predicts that faster flowering onset at high latitudes results in maturation at smaller size and thus reduced reproductive out...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcaa110
更新日期:2020-10-30 00:00:00
abstract:Background and Aims:The nitrogen (N) to phosphorus (P) ratio (N:P) has been widely used as a threshold for identifying nutrient limitations in terrestrial plants; however, the associated reliability has not been well assessed. Methods:The uncertainty of nutrient limitations caused by the N:P threshold was evaluated us...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcx106
更新日期:2017-11-28 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:The ω-gliadin storage proteins of wheat are of interest in relation to their impact on grain processing properties and their role in food allergy, particularly the ω-5 sub-group and wheat-dependent exercise-induced anaphylaxis. The ω-gliadins are also known to be responsive to nitrogen application. ...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mct291
更新日期:2014-03-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Understanding the evolutionary and ecological forces contributing to the emergence of biodiversity hotspots is of outstanding importance to elucidate how they may withstand current climate changes. Here we explored patterns of phylogenetic and non-phylogenetic plant endemism in a Mediterranean biodi...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcw093
更新日期:2017-01-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND:Salt stress has become a major threat to plant growth and productivity. Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi colonize plant root systems and modulate plant growth in various ways. SCOPE:This review addresses the significance of arbuscular mycorrhiza in alleviation of salt stress and their beneficial effects on plan...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章,评审
doi:10.1093/aob/mcp251
更新日期:2009-12-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbioses are important for nutrient acquisition in >80 % of terrestrial plants. Recently there have been major breakthroughs in understanding the signals that regulate colonization by the fungus, but the roles of the known plant hormones are still emerging. Here our understan...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mct041
更新日期:2013-05-01 00:00:00
abstract:BACKGROUND AND AIMS:The diploid cytotype of Paspalum rufum (Poaceae) reproduces sexually and is self-sterile; however, recurrent autopolyploidization through 2n + n fertilization and the ability for reproduction via apomixis have been documented in one genotype of the species. The objectives of this work were to analys...
journal_title:Annals of botany
pub_type: 杂志文章
doi:10.1093/aob/mcu056
更新日期:2014-06-01 00:00:00