Ecological and genetic modifications accompanying crop domestication: Genetic aspects
Crops were usually domesticated from a subset (or subsets) of genetically diverse wild species, and have secondarily re-diversified. Identifying those wild populations sharing alleles with cultivated populations helps pinpoint the region where the crop was originally domesticated, and which wild species was (were) involved. Together with Guillaume Léotard, Marc Delêtre and Caroline Roullier, we conducted such studies on two poorly-studied crops, sweet potato and cassava.
We also addressed how traditional cassava farmers manage cassava genetic diversity within their fields, to be able to conserve numerous clonally propagated, phenotypically distinct varieties. Together with Jane Bradbury, we also investigated the worldwide structure of the genetic diversity of sweet (non-toxic, but non-processed) and bitter (toxic, but processed) cassava landraces.
