(from Codex Magliabechiano facsimile, University of California Press 1903)
PLB143: Evolution of Crop Plants
The origins of agriculture and the domestication of plants
Spring Quarter
Paul Gepts (Group Web page )
Department of Plant Sciences, Section of Crop & Ecosystem Sciences
University of California, Davis
You are visitor number since
February 7th, 1997.
Some of the questions we will attempt to answer, are:
- Where did agriculture originate and when?
- Where did our major crops originate? Where were they domesticated?
- How were plants modified as a consequence of cultivation?
Information about crop evolution, and specifically on patterns of genetic diversity generated by evolution prior, during, and after domestication, is important to develop sound genetic conservation programs (see course PLB151, Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources) and also increases the efficiency of breeding programs (see course PLB154, Plant Breeding).
Lecture Outlines
Note: Because of lack of support, the notes in HTML on this site are not being updated. However, the lecture slides for students (accessible within each lecture page as a pdf document) reflect updated (2011) information as much as possible. For the time being, these are only available to the ucdavis.edu domain. Sorry for any inconvenience.
- Lecture 01: What is crop evolution?
- Lecture 02: Who's who in the history of the study of crop evolution?
- Lecture 03: Lifestyles of the hunters and gatherers
- Lecture 04: Why did agriculture start?
- Lecture 05: Contemporary methods in the study of crop evolution: Plant Science
- Lecture 06: Contemporary methods in the study of crop evolution: Archaeology
- Midterm 01
- Lecture 08: What is a crop? The domestication syndrome
- Lecture 09: What is a weed?
- Lecture 10: Where did agriculture start? Centers of origin and diversity
- Lecture 11: Major dissemination pathways of crops
- Lecture 12: How was agriculture disseminated? The case of Europe
- Lecture 13: How did plants evolve under domestication? Yield and physiological aspects
- Midterm 02
- Lecture 15: How did plants evolve under domestication? Fate of genetic diversity
- Lecture 16: How did plants evolve under domestication? Inheritance of the domestication syndrome
- Lecture 17: Current directions in the study of crop evolution
- Lecture 18: Human evolution under agricultural selection
- Lecture 19: In the end, how does all of this matter? (1) Will agriculture continue to feed and cloth the world?
- Lecture 20: In the end, how does all of this matter? (2) The origin of crops and what it tells us about ownership of biological resources
The crop of the day
- Amaranth, Amaranthus
spp.
- Avocado, Persea
americana
- Cacao, Theobroma cacao (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Cashew, Anacardium occidentale (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Cassava,
Manihot esculenta
- Cherry, Prunus avium & P. cerasus (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Date
palm, Phoenix dactylifera (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Durian, Durio
zibethinus
- Kumquat, Fortunella spp. (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Mango, Mangifera indica (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Mate, Ilex paraguariensis
- Papaya, Carica papaya (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Passionfruit, Passiflora edulis (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Pineapple, Ananas
comosus
- Pistachio, Pistachia vera (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Pomegranate, Punicum granatum (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Strawberry, Fragaria x
ananassae (pdf)
- Tea, Camellia
sinensis (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
- Watermelon, Citrullus lanatus (need Adobe Acrobat Reader)
General Course Information
(this information is updated by the first lecture of the course in Spring quarter)