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Crop domestication in the Compositae: a family-wide trait assessment

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Abstract

Despite current recognition as the largest family of flowering plants (23,000 species ± 1000; Anderberg et al. 2007), the Compositae is home to comparatively few important crop species. To assess domestication levels in the Compositae, we developed an index that categorizes taxa according to the strength of domestication. Most Compositae species that are used by humans exhibit little or no evidence of domestication and only a handful have been strongly domesticated. Although the Compositae (along with Orchidaceae) has few domesticated taxa compared to other large families such as Fabaceae or Poaceae, Compositae species have features that should make them suitable for domestication and human consumption. These include high species diversity, global geographic distribution, good seed storability, and good seed oil quality. We propose that the paucity of domesticated species in this family can be attributed to a variety of factors, chiefly the prevalence of secondary defence compounds, the lack of carbohydrates that can be digested by the human gut and the predominantly mechanical or wind-dependent seed dispersal syndrome. We also discuss the relevance of genetic and cultural factors. Although few Compositae crops currently play a major role in global agriculture, many species hold unexploited potential, especially as novel crops for food and industrial applications.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Nancy Turner and Stu Crawford for helpful discussions on inulin containing crops; Nolan Kane, Michael Barker, Anne Bjorkman, Catherine D’Andrea and Eric Baack on suggestions for revisions and inspirational conversations; Jeannette Whitton for sharing her experiences in working with Compositae species for so many years; Mark Nesbitt for useful discussions; Ljerka Kunst for insights into oil chemistry; Kathrin Dieterle for sharing with us her views on the role of inulin for human metabolism; two anonymous reviewers for helpful comments on the manuscript; and Scott Black for assisting us with generating the Figures. Funding for studies of Compositae crop and weed evolution has been provided by a National Science Foundation (DBI0421630) and NSERC Discovery grants to QC and LHR, as well as a CIDA grant to LHR, J. Engels, and H. Dempewolf.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, 3529-6270 University Blvd, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4

    Hannes Dempewolf & Loren H. Rieseberg

  2. Department of Biology, Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 47405, USA

    Loren H. Rieseberg

  3. Centre for Plant Research and Botanical Garden, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4

    Quentin C. Cronk

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  1. Hannes Dempewolf
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  2. Loren H. Rieseberg
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Correspondence to Hannes Dempewolf.

Appendix

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Table 3 List of uses of some species in the Compositae
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Dempewolf, H., Rieseberg, L.H. & Cronk, Q.C. Crop domestication in the Compositae: a family-wide trait assessment. Genet Resour Crop Evol 55, 1141–1157 (2008). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-008-9315-0

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