Research in Context The domestication syndrome in vegetatively-propagated field crops Tim Denham1*, Huw Barton2, Cristina Castillo3, Alison Crowther4,5, Emilie Dotte-Sarout1,6, Anna Florin4, Jenifer Pritchard1, Aleese Barron1, Yekun Zhang1 and Dorian Q Fuller3,7 1 School of Archaeology and Anthropology, College of Arts and Social Sciences, Australian National University, Canberra ACT 0200, Australia. 2 School of Archaeology and Ancient History, University of Leicester, University Road, Leicester, LE1 7RH, UK. 3 University College London, Institute of Archaeology, 31-34 Gordon Square, London WC1H 0PY UK. 4 School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane QLD 4072, Australia. 5 Department of Archaeology, Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History, Jena, 07745, Germany 6 School of Social Sciences, Faculty of Arts, Business, Law & Education, University of Western Australia, Perth WA 6009, Australia. 7 School of Archaeology and Museology, Northwest University, Xian, Shanxi, China. *Corresponding author –
[email protected] Running Title: Domestication syndrome in vegetative crops 1 Abstract BACKGROUND. Vegetatively propagated crops are globally significant in terms of current agricultural production, as well as for understanding the long-term history of early agriculture and plant domestication. Today, significant field crops include sugarcane (Saccharum officinarum), potato (Solanum tuberosum), manioc (Manihot esculenta), bananas and plantains (Musa cvs.), sweet potato (Ipomoea batatas), yams (Dioscorea spp.) and taro (Colocasia esculenta). In comparison to sexually-reproduced crops, especially cereals and legumes, the domestication syndrome in vegetatively-propagated field crops is poorly defined. AIMS AND SCOPE. Here, a range of phenotypic traits potentially comprising a syndrome associated with early domestication of vegetatively-propagated field crops is proposed, including: mode of reproduction, yield of edible portion, ease of harvesting, defensive adaptations, timing of production and plant architecture.