Some Current Topics in Plant Domestication: An Overview with Particular Reference to Amazonia

Amazonia offers some striking contrasts to better-known regions of the world, notably the Middle East, in which plants were domesticated. These contrasts are pertinent to attempts to formulate general principles of evolution under domestication, particularly now that some of these are being critically reexamined. Topics covered in this paper include a generally applicable definition of plant domestication; how domestication may be recognised archaeobotanically; the relative roles of conscious and unconscious human selection; when and how rapidly domestication occurred; whether the same crop was domesticated more than once; and where a crop was domesticated. The archaeobotanical record for Amazonia and the number of Amazonian crops in which domestication has been critically studied are limited, so detailed comparison with other regions is not yet possible. However, new techniques in archaeology and molecular genetics offer promise that questions that can at present only be posed may become answerable in the not-too-distant future

The benefits, costs and feasibility of a low incidence COVID-19 strategy.

In the summer of 2021, European governments removed most NPIs after experiencing prolonged second and third waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most countries failed to achieve immunization rates high enough to avoid resurgence of the virus. Public health strategies for autumn and winter 2021 have ranged from countries aiming at low incidence by re-introducing NPIs to accepting high incidence levels. However, such high incidence strategies almost certainly lead to the very consequences that they seek to avoid: restrictions that harm people and economies. At high incidence, the important pandemic containment measure 'test-trace-isolate-support' becomes inefficient. At that point, the spread of SARS-CoV-2 and its numerous harmful consequences can likely only be controlled through restrictions. We argue that all European countries need to pursue a low incidence strategy in a coordinated manner. Such an endeavour can only be successful if it is built on open communication and trust

Towards a European strategy to address the COVID-19 pandemic.

Reduction of COVID-19 incidence across Europe in the early spring months of 2021 led to substantial relaxation of restrictions in summer, despite the emergence and spread of the more transmissible SARS-CoV-2 delta variant. As expected, this relaxation led to a renewed increase in incidence. How should Europe act, what strategies should it adopt, and what specific risks should it consider moving forward

A look into the future of the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe: an expert consultation.

How will the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic develop in the coming months and years? Based on an expert survey, we examine key aspects that are likely to influence the COVID-19 pandemic in Europe. The challenges and developments will strongly depend on the progress of national and global vaccination programs, the emergence and spread of variants of concern (VOCs), and public responses to non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs). In the short term, many people remain unvaccinated, VOCs continue to emerge and spread, and mobility and population mixing are expected to increase. Therefore, lifting restrictions too much and too early risk another damaging wave. This challenge remains despite the reduced opportunities for transmission given vaccination progress and reduced indoor mixing in summer 2021. In autumn 2021, increased indoor activity might accelerate the spread again, whilst a necessary reintroduction of NPIs might be too slow. The incidence may strongly rise again, possibly filling intensive care units, if vaccination levels are not high enough. A moderate, adaptive level of NPIs will thus remain necessary. These epidemiological aspects combined with economic, social, and health-related consequences provide a more holistic perspective on the future of the COVID-19 pandemic

鳥取県, 岡山県, 茨城県, 栃木県におけるアズキ (Vigna angularis) 野生-栽培-雑草種集団のモニタリング, 2000年

Based on the field and laboratory diversity studies of the Azuki bean (Vigna angularis) complex populations, 6 populations (Bato : Tochigi pref.; Yasato : Ibaraki pref.; Koge, Miwa, Kokufu : Tottori pref.; and Tatebe : Okayama pref.) were selected for long term monitoring. These populations were visited at, at least two growth stages, flowering and maturity, for individual leaf sampling, observation of pollinators behavior, and construction of distribution maps of individual samples. Various types of complex populations were described. Magachile spp. and Xylocapa appendiculata were found to be the major flower visitors to cultivated and wild azuki bean. DNA level diversity study for each complex population will be conducted using microsatellite markers.1996年にはじめた日本国内におけるアズキ野生種の調査によって, 野生アズキと栽培アズキの中間的形態を示す通称雑草アズキが野生アズキと同所的に分布する集団や, 形態的には普通の野生アズキと区別がつかないが, 種子色や莢色などに変異がみられる集団など興味深い多様性をもつ集団が日本各地に分布していることが明らかになってきた. これらの集団がもつ遺伝的多様性の起源, 変異個体の集団内における分布実態およびその時間的変動を明らかにしていくために鳥取, 岡山, 茨城, 栃木の集団をモニタリング集団として選定した. 今年度はこれらの集団を開花期と成熟期に訪れ, 詳細な集団内変異個体の分布図を作成した. 開花期には集団内に選定した調査個体から若い葉を DNA 多様性解析用に収集するとともに, 集団内あるいは集団間の遺伝子流動の実態を解明していくために訪花昆虫の調査をおこなった. 成熟期には選定した調査個体から個体別に種子を収集した. 開花期における訪花昆虫の調査によって, アズキや野生アズキの花には, ハキリバチ類やクマバチがよく訪れていることが明らかになってきた. 今後は DNA レベルの変異と形態の変異との関係を調査し, 野生アズキ集団内や野生アズキと栽培アズキとの間の遺伝子流動の程度や関与している訪花昆虫を明らかにしていく計画である

Parallel vs. Convergent Evolution in Domestication and Diversification of Crops in the Americas

Domestication involves changes in various traits of the phenotype in response to human selection. Diversification may accompany or follow domestication, and results in variants within the crop adapted to different uses by humans or different agronomic conditions. Similar domestication and diversification traits may be shared by closely related species (parallel evolution) or by distantly related species (convergent evolution). Many of these traits are produced by complex genetic networks or long biosynthetic pathways that are extensively conserved even in distantly related species. Similar phenotypic changes in different species may be controlled by homologous genes (parallel evolution at the genetic level) or non-homologous genes (convergent evolution at the genetic level). It has been suggested that parallel evolution may be more frequent among closely related species, or among diversification rather than domestication traits, or among traits produced by simple metabolic pathways. Crops domesticated in the Americas span a spectrum of genetic relatedness, have been domesticated for diverse purposes, and have responded to human selection by changes in many different traits, so provide examples of both parallel and convergent evolution at various levels. However, despite the current explosion in relevant information, data are still insufficient to provide quantitative or conclusive assessments of the relative roles of these two processes in domestication and diversificatio