Skip to main content
Springer Nature Link
Log in

Evidence of the domestication history of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) from genetic diversity of the sad2 locus

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Theoretical and Applied Genetics Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A phylogenetic analysis was conducted on 34 alleles of 2.5 kb sized stearoyl-ACP desaturase II (sad2), obtained from 30 accessions of cultivated and pale flax (Linum spp.), to elucidate the history of flax domestication. The analysis supports a single domestication origin for extant cultivated flax. The phylogenetic evidence indicates that flax was first domesticated for oil, rather than fibre. The genetic diversity of the sad2 locus in cultivated flax is low when compared to that of the pale flax assayed. An absolute archaeological date could be applied to the synonymous substitution rate of sad2 in cultivated flax, yielding a high estimate of 1.60–1.71×10−7 substitutions/site/year. The occurrence of nonsynonymous substitutions at conserved positions of the third exon in alleles from cultivated flax suggests that the locus may have been subjected to an artificial selection pressure. The elevated synonymous substitution rate is also compatible with a population expansion of flax since domestication, followed by a population decline in historic times. These findings provide new insight into flax domestication and are significant for the continuous exploration of the flax germplasm for utilization.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig 1

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Allaby RG, Brown TA (2001) Network analysis provides insights into the evolution of 5S rDNA arrays in Triticum and Aegilops. Genetics 157:1331–1341

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Allaby RG, Brown TA (2003) AFLP and the origins of agriculture. Genome 46:448–453

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Diederichsen A, Hammer K (1995) Variation of cultivated flax (Linum usitatissimum L. subsp. usitatissimum) and its wild progenitor pale flax (subsp. angustifolium (Huds.) Thell.). Genet Res Crop Evol 42:262–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Everaert I, de Riek J, de Loose M, van Waes J, van Bockstaele E (2001) Most similar variety grouping for distinctness evaluation of flax and linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) varieties by means of AFLP and morphological data. Plant Variet Seeds 14:69–87

    Google Scholar 

  • Forster P, Harding R, Torroni A, Bandelt H (1996) Origin and evolution of native American mtDNA variation: A reappraisal. Am J Hum Genet 59:935–945

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Freitas FO, Bendel G, Allaby RG, Brown TA (2003) DNA from primitive maize landraces and archaeological remains: implications for the domestication of maize and its expansion into South America. J Archaeol Sci 30:901–908

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fu YB (2005) Geographic patterns of RAPD variation in cultivated flax. Crop Sci 45:1084–1091

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Fu YB, Diederichsen A, Richards KW, Peterson G (2002a) Genetic diversity within a range of cultivars and landraces of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) as revealed by RAPDs. Genet Res Crop Evol 49:167–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fu YB, Peterson G, Diederichsen A, Richards KW (2002b) RAPD analysis of genetic relationships of seven flax species in the genus Linum L. Genet Res Crop Evol 49:253–259

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaut BS, Morton B, McCaig BC, Clegg MT (1996) Substitution rate comparisons between grasses and palms: synonymous rate differences at the nuclear gene Adh parallel rate differences at plastid gene rbcL. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 93:10274–10279

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Gill KS, Yermanos DM (1967) Cytogenetic studies on the genus Linum. Crop Sci 7:623–631

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harlan JR (1971) Agricultural origins: centers and noncenters. Science 174:468–474

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Helbaek H (1959) Domestication of food plants in the Old World. Science 130:365–372

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hillman G (1975) The plant remains from Tell Abu Hureyra: A preliminary report. Proc Prehist Soc 41:70–73

    Google Scholar 

  • Jain RK, Thompson G, Taylor DC, MacKenzie SL, McHughen A, Rowland GG, Tenaschuk D, Coffey M (1999) Isolation and characterisation of two promoters from linseed for genetic engineering. Crop Sci 39:1696–1701

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Kimura M (1983) The neutral theory of evolution. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, MA

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Knutzon DS, Thompson GA, Radke SE, Johnson WB, Knauf VC, Kridl AC (1992) Modification of Brassica oil by antisense expression of a stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase gene. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 89:2624–2628

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Koch MA, Haubold B, Mitchell-Olds T (2000) Comparative evolutionary analysis of chalcone synthase and alcohol dehydrogenase in Arabadopsis, Arabis and related genera (Brassicaceae). Mol Biol Evol 17:1483–1498

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • McCarthy C (1998) ChormasLite v1.0., Technelysium Pty. Ltd., http://www.technelysium.com.au/chromaslite.html

  • Ohlrogge JB, Jaworski JG (1997) Regulation of fatty acid synthesis. Ann Rev Plant Physiol Plant Mol Biol 48:109–136

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Rozen S, Skaletsky HJ (1998) Primer3. Code available at http://www-genome.wi.mit.edu/genome_software/other/primer3.html

  • Saillard J, Forster P, Lynnerup N, Bandelt H-J, Nørby S (2000) MtDNA variation among Greenland Eskimos: the edge of the Beringian expansion. Am J Hum Genet 67:718–726

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Shanklin J, Sommerville C (1991) Stearoyl-acyl-carrier-protein desaturase from higher plants is structurally unrelated to the animal and fungal homologs. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88:2510–2514

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Singh S, McKinney S, Green A (1994) Sequence of a cDNA from Linum usitatissimum encoding the stearoyl-acyl carrier protein desaturase. Plant Physiol 104:1075

    Article  CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tajima F (1989a) Statistical method for testing the neutral mutation hypothesis by DNA polymorphism. Genetics 123:585–595

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Tajima F (1989b) The effect of change in population size on DNA polymorphism. Genetics 123:597–601

    CAS  PubMed  PubMed Central  Google Scholar 

  • Thompson JD, Gibson TJ, Plewniak F, Jeanmougin F, Higgins DG (1997) The ClustalX windows interface: flexible strategies for multiple sequence alignment aided by quality analysis tools. Nucleic Acids Res 24:4876—4882

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Zeist W, Bakker-Heeres JAH (1975) Evidence for linseed cultivation before 6000 BC. J Archaeol Sci 2:215–219

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vavilov NI (1926) Studies on the origin of cultivated plants. Inst Bot Appl et d’ Amelior. des Plantes. Leningrad, State Press (In Russian and English)

  • Vavilov NI (1951) The origin, variation, immunity and breeding of cultivated plants. Chronica Bot 13:1–366

    Google Scholar 

  • Wolfe KH, Sharp PM, Li WH (1989) Rates of synonymous substitution in plant nuclear genes. J Mol Evol 29:208–211

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang L, Vision TJ, Gaut BS (2002) Patterns of nucleotide substitution among simultaneously duplicated gene pairs in Arabadopsis thaliana. Mol Biol Evol 19:1464–1473

    Article  CAS  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Zeven AC, de Wet JMJ (1982) Dictionary of cultivated plants and their regions of diversity. Centre for Agricultural Publishing, Wageningen

    Google Scholar 

  • Zohary D, Hopf M (2000) Domestication of plants in the Old World, 3rd edn. Oxford University Press, Oxford, pp 125–132

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank Drs. Axel Diederichsen and Bruce Coulman for their helpful comments on an early version of the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, Binghamton University SUNY, Binghamton, NY, 13902, USA

    Robin G. Allaby & David Andrew Merriwether

  2. Plant Gene Resources of Canada, Saskatoon Research Centre, Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, 107 Science Place, S7 N 0X2, Saskatoon, SK, Canada

    Gregory W. Peterson & Yong-Bi Fu

Authors
  1. Robin G. Allaby
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  2. Gregory W. Peterson
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  3. David Andrew Merriwether
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

  4. Yong-Bi Fu
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author inPubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Yong-Bi Fu.

Additional information

Communicated by F. Salamini

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Allaby, R.G., Peterson, G.W., Merriwether, D.A. et al. Evidence of the domestication history of flax (Linum usitatissimum L.) from genetic diversity of the sad2 locus. Theor Appl Genet 112, 58–65 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-005-0103-3

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00122-005-0103-3

Keywords