The Domestication of Europe
Key points:
- Phylogeographical analysis of modern barley and wheat landraces;
This project, in collaboration with the University of Manchester, the University of Cambridge and the National Institute of Agricultural Botany, aimed to investigate the spread of crops across Europe through phylogenetic analysis of DNA. A key focus of the project was to determine the extent to which phylogeographical analysis of modern landraces of barley and wheat could reveal genetic information pertaining to the spread and establishment of cereal cultivation from its points of origin in Southwest Asia into and through Europe.
Crop genetics was used to evaluate the relative roles of climatic adaptation and human assimilation in determining the rate of agricultural spread and the success of cereal cultivation in different geographical regions. A number of distinct populations were identified amongst barley landraces, which are associated with both environmental variables and human selection.
Funded by: NERC Consortium Project
Grant Period: 2004 - 2009
Grant Holder: Prof. T. Brown (Manchester, Life Sciences), Prof G Jones (Sheffield, Archaeology), Dr M. Charles (Sheffield, Archaeology), Prof M. Jones (Cambridge, Archaeology), and Prof W Powell (NIAB)
Researchers: Dr S. College, Dr H. Jones, Dr F. Leigh and Dr D. Leiter.
Relevant publications
- H. Jones, P. Civán,J. Cockram, F.J. Leigh, L.M.J. Smith, M.K. Jones, M.P. Charles, J.-L. Molina-Cano, W. Powell, G. Jones and T.A. Brown). 2011. Evolutionary history of barley cultivation in Europe revealed by genetic analysis of extant landraces. BMC Evolutionary Biology 11: 320.
- D.L. Lister, S. Thaw, M.A. Bower, H. Jones, M. Charles, G. Jones, L.M.J. Smith, C.J Howe, T.A. Brown and M.K. Jones. 2009. Latitudinal variation in a photoperiod response gene in European barley: insight into the spread of agriculture from historic specimens. Journal of Archaeological Science 36: 1092-8.
- H. Jones, F.J. Leigh, I. Mackay, M.A. Bower, L.M.J. Smith, M.P. Charles, G. Jones, M.K. Jones, T.A. Brown and W. Powell. 2008. Population based resequencing reveals that the flowering time adaptation of cultivated barleys originated east of the Fertile Crescent. Molecular Biology and Evolution 25: 2211-9.