Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal

Bio: Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal is an academic researcher from Puerto Rico Department of Agriculture. The author has contributed to research in topics: Domestication & Agave. The author has an hindex of 18, co-authored 32 publications receiving 893 citations.

Origin of agriculture and plant domestication in West Mesoamerica

Abstract: Recent paleoecological, archaeobotanical and genetic-molecular data are used to develop a hypothesis on the where, when, how and whom of plant domestication and the origin of agriculture in west Mesoamerica, and the formation of the maize-bean-squash multicrop milpa system and agro-food system which formed the base for development of ancient complex societies in this area It is highly likely that about 10,000 before present (BP) human groups specializing in plant gathering and small game hunting in the dry tropical forest of the Balsas-Jalisco biotic morphotectonic province began the process of plant domestication and agriculture, using fire as a tool Sympatric distribution of the putative wild ancestral populations of maize, beans and squash indicate the extreme northwest Balsas-Jalisco region as a possible locus of domestication Diffusion of these domesticates to the rest of Mesoamerica would have occurred via existing biological-cultural corridors The milpa agro-food system would have been established between 7,000 and 4,400 calendar years (cal) BP The complex food technology developed in the northwest Balsas-Jalisco region between 4,500 and 3,500 BP, much more complex than in other areas at the time, also suggests this area as the origin of the milpa agro-food system Further archaeobotanical research is needed to confirm this hypothesis Exploratory, collection and conservation efforts are needed in these putative source populations, as well as studies on their adaptation to climatic, edaphic and biotic factors, before they are displaced by the African grasses and pesticides forming part of the region’s growing cattle industry

Population structure and evolutionary dynamics of wild-weedy-domesticated complexes of common bean in a Mesoamerican region

Abstract: The diversity, structure, genetic flow, and evolutive relationships within and among three wild-weedy-domesticated complexes and a wild population isolated from crops of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) were analyzed under traditional agriculture, within a region of the Mesoamerican center of domestication. Their diversity was compared with the diversity of a local commercial variety and a breeding line. A morphological marker and 37 polymorphic ISSR loci were used. Total genetic diversity within the wild, weedy, and domesticated populations across the complexes was very similar (0.24, 0.22, and 0.26, respectively). Weedy populations within each complex were more closely related to the domesticated than to the wild populations, suggesting they originated from introgression of wild-type alleles into the domesticated populations or predominant gene flow from domesticated to wild populations. The wild population in closest proximity to the crop within its complex was more similar to the domesticated and weedy populations of its complex than to the rest of the wild populations, suggesting displacement of the wild genetic diversity by gene flow from the domesticated population within its complex. The high values of differentiation among wild, weedy, and domesticated populations within each complex suggest high autogamy or genetic drift. However, the values of gene flow among populations within the complexes were close to one, theoretically sufficient to counteract genetic drift and/or autogamy. We therefore assume that human selection is the most important evolutionary mechanism for maintaining the high wild-domesticated differentiation by negative farmer selection of cultivated plants with morphological characters that suggest introgression. Farmers may influence the magnitude and characteristics of gene flow among populations within each complex by the management of the distance between the crops and the wild populations, the diversity within the landraces sown, and the tolerance and harvesting of weedy populations. The high geographic differentiation of the wild populations, together with the local differences in human selection practices and agronomic management, could have generated multiple evolutionary lineages after domestication. Domesticated populations within complexes were between two and four times more diverse than the local commercial variety and four and nine times more diverse than the breeding line. New conservation and breeding strategies are suggested to maintain and use the gene pools from these complexes.

Diversity and structure of landraces of Agave grown for spirits under traditional agriculture: A comparison with wild populations of A. angustifolia (Agavaceae) and commercial plantations of A. tequilana

Abstract: Traditional farming communities frequently maintain high levels of agrobiodiversity, so understanding their agricultural practices is a priority for biodiversity conservation. The cultural origin of agave spirits (mezcals) from west-central Mexico is in the southern part of the state of Jalisco where traditional farmers cultivate more than 20 landraces of Agave angustifolia Haw. in agroecosystems that include in situ management of wild populations. These systems, rooted in a 9000-year-old tradition of using agaves as food in Mesoamerica, are endangered by the expansion of commercial monoculture plantations of the blue agave variety ( A. tequilana Weber var. Azul), the only agave certifi ed for sale as tequila, the best-known mezcal. Using intersimple sequence repeats and Bayesian estimators of diversity and structure, we found that A. angustifolia traditional landraces had a genetic diversity ( H BT = 0.442) similar to its wild populations ( H BT = 0.428) and a higher genetic structure ( θ B = 0.405; θ B =0. 212). In contrast, the genetic diversity in the blue agave commercial system ( H B = 0.118) was 73% lower. Changes to agave spirits certifi cation laws to allow the conservation of current genetic, ecological and cultural diversity can play a key role in the preservation of the traditional agroecosystems.

Domestication of Plants in Maya Lowlands

Abstract: The Lowland Mayan culture has been one of the most successful in Mesoamerica. Being an agricultural society, part of their success was based on plant genetic resources which satisfied their needs of social reproduction. This article reviews recent evidence on early agriculture in the geographic area where Lowland Maya culture originated, and discusses its implications for the study of plant domestication and evolution under human selection within this cultural sub-area. Questions of interest for future research are posed. As working hypotheses, we list two categories of species possibly implicated in the origin of this civilization: (1) native species that could have been the subject of local human selection or to some degree of agricultural manipulation by 3400 b.c., and (2) species that could have been introduced from other cultural areas of America by 3400 b.c. and subsequently subjected to local human selection.

The Archaic Diet in Mesoamerica: Incentive for Milpa Development and Species Domestication

Abstract: The Archaic Diet in Mesoamerica: Incentive for Milpa Development and Species Domestication. One of the central questions in the development of Mesoamerican civilization is how the alimentary, agronomic, and ecological complementarities were achieved within the milpa agroecosystem, which is one of its more important and distinctive cultural elements. In the Mesoamerican center of origin of agriculture and domestication of plants, located in western Mexico, we inquired among Nahuatl communities about the ancient dishes prepared with wild plants that are part of their ancient foodways, and the tools and technology used to prepare them. We found that the wild progenitors of Agave spp., Zea mays L, Cucurbita argyrosperma Hort. Ex L.H. Bayley, Phaseolus spp., Capsicum annum L., Solanum lycopersicum L., Physalis phyladelphica Lam, Spondias purpurea L., Persea americana Mill., and Hyptis suaveolens (L.) Poit are consumed in dishes that remain in the present food culture of the poor peasants, and are prepared with techniques and tools that were available in the Archaic period: Sun drying, roasting, toasting, baking, cracking, grinding, crushing, fermenting, and soaking in plain water or in water with ash, using three–stone fireplaces, stone toasters, crushers, grinders, rock pits, and three types of earth ovens. A remarkable finding was that beans could be incorporated into the diet without boiling, but just by toasting, stone grinding, and baking in corn dough tamales. Results obtained suggest that the basic Mesoamerican diet could have been shaped before the species involved were domesticated. Its nutritional complementarity since the Archaic period could have been one of the incentives for the development of the milpa system and the domestication of its species, achieving in this way also their ecological and agronomical complementarity.

Safeguarding pollinators and their values to human well-being

Abstract: Wild and managed pollinators provide a wide range of benefits to society in terms of contributions to food security, farmer and beekeeper livelihoods, social and cultural values, as well as the maintenance of wider biodiversity and ecosystem stability. Pollinators face numerous threats, including changes in land-use and management intensity, climate change, pesticides and genetically modified crops, pollinator management and pathogens, and invasive alien species. There are well-documented declines in some wild and managed pollinators in several regions of the world. However, many effective policy and management responses can be implemented to safeguard pollinators and sustain pollination services.

A reference genome for common bean and genome-wide analysis of dual domestications

Abstract: Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) is the most important grain legume for human consumption and has a role in sustainable agriculture owing to its ability to fix atmospheric nitrogen. We assembled 473 Mb of the 587-Mb genome and genetically anchored 98% of this sequence in 11 chromosome-scale pseudomolecules. We compared the genome for the common bean against the soybean genome to find changes in soybean resulting from polyploidy. Using resequencing of 60 wild individuals and 100 landraces from the genetically differentiated Mesoamerican and Andean gene pools, we confirmed 2 independent domestications from genetic pools that diverged before human colonization. Less than 10% of the 74 Mb of sequence putatively involved in domestication was shared by the two domestication events. We identified a set of genes linked with increased leaf and seed size and combined these results with quantitative trait locus data from Mesoamerican cultivars. Genes affected by domestication may be useful for genomics-enabled crop improvement.

Current perspectives and the future of domestication studies

Abstract: It is difficult to overstate the cultural and biological impacts that the domestication of plants and animals has had on our species. Fundamental questions regarding where, when, and how many times domestication took place have been of primary interest within a wide range of academic disciplines. Within the last two decades, the advent of new archaeological and genetic techniques has revolutionized our understanding of the pattern and process of domestication and agricultural origins that led to our modern way of life. In the spring of 2011, 25 scholars with a central interest in domestication representing the fields of genetics, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, geoarchaeology, and archaeology met at the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center to discuss recent domestication research progress and identify challenges for the future. In this introduction to the resulting Special Feature, we present the state of the art in the field by discussing what is known about the spatial and temporal patterns of domestication, and controversies surrounding the speed, intentionality, and evolutionary aspects of the domestication process. We then highlight three key challenges for future research. We conclude by arguing that although recent progress has been impressive, the next decade will yield even more substantial insights not only into how domestication took place, but also when and where it did, and where and why it did not.

Field evidence for transfer of plastic debris along a terrestrial food chain

Abstract: Although plastic pollution happens globally, the micro- (<5 mm) and macroplastic (5–150 mm) transfer of plastic to terrestrial species relevant to human consumption has not been examined. We provide first-time evidence for micro- and macroplastic transfer from soil to chickens in traditional Mayan home gardens in Southeast Mexico where waste mismanagement is common. We assessed micro- and macroplastic in soil, earthworm casts, chicken feces, crops and gizzards (used for human consumption). Microplastic concentrations increased from soil (0.87 ± 1.9 particles g−1), to earthworm casts (14.8 ± 28.8 particles g−1), to chicken feces (129.8 ± 82.3 particles g−1). Chicken gizzards contained 10.2 ± 13.8 microplastic particles, while no microplastic was found in crops. An average of 45.82 ± 42.6 macroplastic particles were found per gizzard and 11 ± 15.3 macroplastic particles per crop, with 1–10 mm particles being significantly more abundant per gizzard (31.8 ± 27.27 particles) compared to the crop (1 ± 2.2 particles). The data show that micro- and macroplastic are capable of entering terrestrial food webs.