This book provides a comprehensive overview of the complex story of human-plant interactions, from the hunter-gatherers of the Palaeolithic Era, through to the 21st century and the molecular genetic manipulation of crops. It links the latest advances in molecular genetics with the science and history of plant domestication, the evolution of plant breeding, and the implications of this new knowledge for both the agriculture of today and the future.Modern societies still rely on plants for most of their food needs, not to mention clothing, shelter, medicines and tools. This special relationship has tied together people and their plants in mutual dependence for over 50,000 years. Yet despite these millennia of intimate contact, people have only gone on to domesticate and cultivate a few dozen of the tens of thousands of edible plants available. Thanks to the latest genomic studies, we can now begin to explain how, when, and where some of the most important crops came to be domesticated, and the crucial role of plant genetics and climatic change in these processes. Indeed, it was their unique genetic organisations that ultimately determined which plants eventually became crops, rather than any conscious decisions by their human cultivators.The book is primarily aimed at geneticists, molecular biologists, biotechnologists, and plant breeders who require a detailed and up-to-date account of modern crop genetics and genomic research and its wider significance for agriculture. However, the accessible style will appeal to a wider readership of agronomists, archaeologists, and even historians, who wish to explore the many interactions that have shaped the often crucial relationships between plants and human societies.
Author(s): Denis J. Murphy
Year: 2007
Language: English
Pages: 384
Contents......Page 8
List of figures......Page 14
List of tables......Page 16
List of text boxes......Page 17
Preface......Page 18
Nomenclature and terminology......Page 22
PART I: People and plants: one hundred millennia of coevolution......Page 26
Introduction......Page 28
Why agriculture?......Page 30
Gradual transitions......Page 32
Human beginnings......Page 34
Climate, migration, and food......Page 36
Moving down the food chain......Page 42
The rise of cereals after 25,000 BP......Page 45
The Kebaran hunter–gatherer culture......Page 51
The early Natufians and sedentism......Page 53
Non-agricultural plant management......Page 55
The remarkable Kumeyaay people......Page 56
Plant management does not necessarily lead to agriculture......Page 57
A cold, dry shock—the Younger Dryas Interval Biological and human consequences......Page 61
The human response......Page 69
Plant domestication and acquisition of agriculture are reversible processes......Page 74
PART II: Crops and genetics: 90 million years of plant evolution......Page 78
Darwin, de Candolle, and Vavilov......Page 80
Origin and domestication of the major crops......Page 81
Polyploidy and crops......Page 85
Fluid genomes, ‘extra’ DNA, and mobile genes in plants......Page 90
Biological species......Page 93
The domestication syndrome......Page 98
Introduction......Page 103
Wheat......Page 104
Barley......Page 110
Rye and oats......Page 111
Millets......Page 113
Rice......Page 115
Maize......Page 117
Sorghum......Page 119
Pulses......Page 121
Potatoes and other Solanaceae......Page 124
Brassicas......Page 126
PART III: People and plants in prehistoric times: ten millennia of climatic and social change......Page 132
Emergence of cereal crops in the Near East......Page 134
Rice and millet come to eastern Asia......Page 136
Maize arrives in Mesoamerica......Page 139
Other cultures, other crops......Page 143
Early agriculture and human nutrition......Page 149
Human genetic changes in response to agriculture......Page 155
Livestock domestication......Page 160
Introduction......Page 162
Climatic context of the Holocene: punctuated stability......Page 164
Establishment and spread of farming: 11,500 to 8000 BP......Page 176
Elites, cities, and irrigation: 8000 to 5200 BP......Page 179
Bureaucracy, empire, and drought: 5200 to 4000 BP......Page 187
The Indus Valley......Page 199
China......Page 205
Africa......Page 214
Europe......Page 221
The Americas......Page 228
PART IV: People and plants in historic times: globalization of agriculture and the rise of science......Page 244
Agriculture during the classical period: 2000 BCE to 500 CE......Page 246
Medieval agriculture: 500 to 1500 CE......Page 252
Societal context of practical plant manipulation......Page 257
Breeding......Page 259
Evolution of modern agricultural economies......Page 266
Applying the new knowledge......Page 269
The English revolution......Page 272
Botany in the ascendant: the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries......Page 274
Beginnings of scientific breeding......Page 281
Introduction......Page 286
Improving crop management......Page 287
Genetic variation and its manipulation for crop improvement......Page 291
Creating new variation......Page 293
Screening and selection......Page 297
Domesticating new crops—a new vision for agriculture......Page 299
Agriculture and human population fluctuations......Page 304
The short- to medium-term future......Page 307
The far future—an uncertain environment......Page 308
People, plants, and genes in the next 100,000 years......Page 310
Notes......Page 313
Bibliography......Page 364
B......Page 416
C......Page 417
D......Page 418
G......Page 419
I......Page 420
M......Page 421
N......Page 422
R......Page 423
S......Page 424
W......Page 425
Z......Page 426
