2023 article
Population genomics identifies genetic signatures of carrot domestication and improvement and uncovers the origin of high-carotenoid orange carrots
Coe, K., Bostan, H., Rolling, W., Turner-Hissong, S., Macko-Podgorni, A., Senalik, D., … Iorizzo, M. (2023, September 28). NATURE PLANTS.
TL;DR:
It is demonstrated that carrot was domesticated during the Early Middle Ages in the region spanning western Asia to central Asia, and orange carrot was selected during the Renaissance period, probably in western Europe, through the selection of three recessive genes that increased the provitamin A carotenoid (α- and β-carotene) content.
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UN Sustainable Development Goal Categories
3. Good Health and Well-being
(Web of Science)
Source: Web Of Science
Added: October 16, 2023
AbstractHere an improved carrot reference genome and resequencing of 630 carrot accessions were used to investigate carrot domestication and improvement. The study demonstrated that carrot was domesticated during the Early Middle Ages in the region spanning western Asia to central Asia, and orange carrot was selected during the Renaissance period, probably in western Europe. A progressive reduction of genetic diversity accompanied this process. Genes controlling circadian clock/flowering and carotenoid accumulation were under selection during domestication and improvement. Three recessive genes, at the REC, Or and Y2 quantitative trait loci, were essential to select for the high α- and β-carotene orange phenotype. All three genes control high α- and β-carotene accumulation through molecular mechanisms that regulate the interactions between the carotenoid biosynthetic pathway, the photosynthetic system and chloroplast biogenesis. Overall, this study elucidated carrot domestication and breeding history and carotenoid genetics at a molecular level.