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Abstract
<p class="first" id="d2302396e83">Plant domestication has strongly modified crop morphology
and development. Nevertheless,
many crops continue to display atavistic characteristics that were advantageous to
their wild ancestors but are deleterious under cultivation, such as pod dehiscence
(PD). Here, we provide the first comprehensive assessment of the inheritance of PD
in the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris), a major domesticated grain legume. Using
three methods to evaluate the PD phenotype, we identified multiple, unlinked genetic
regions controlling PD in a biparental population and two diversity panels. Subsequently,
we assessed patterns of orthology among these loci and those controlling the trait
in other species. Our results show that different genes were selected in each domestication
and ecogeographic race. A chromosome Pv03 dirigent-like gene, involved in lignin biosynthesis,
showed a base-pair substitution that is associated with decreased PD. This haplotype
may underlie the expansion of Mesoamerican domesticates into northern Mexico, where
arid conditions promote PD. The rise in frequency of the decreased-PD haplotype may
be a consequence of the markedly different fitness landscape imposed by domestication.
Environmental dependency and genetic redundancy can explain the maintenance of atavistic
traits under domestication.
</p>