Bitter gourd from Africa expanded to Southeast Asia and was domesticated there: A new insight from parallel studies

Abstract

Matsumura et al. (1) report a chromosome-level genome assembly of Momordica charantia, an important vegetable and medicinal plant in the family Cucurbitaceae, and then use resequencing to infer the divergence between wild samples with "[var.] muricata-type morphology" and cultivated samples (var. charantia). The initial domestication was dated to 6,000 y ago, followed by the separation of further cultivars 800 y ago. A parallel study by Cui et al. (2) (with partly overlapping authorship) instead inferred that wild bitter gourds and the lineage that gave rise to var. muricata and var. charantia diverged ∼1.9 Mya (ref. 1, figures 2c and S10), while the split between muricata and charantia is again dated to ∼6,000 y ago. The ∼1.9-Mya-old wild lineage, called TR group, has seeds barely one-half the size of var. muricata and var. charantia seeds (Fig. 1). Why these contrasting inferences? Matsumura et al. (1) included 44 cultivated bitter gourds from Asia and 1 from Belize, plus 15 supposedly wild accessions from Taiwan, Thailand, and the Philippines. No material is illustrated or vouchered in an herbarium, and some accessions (e.g., THMC170) are labeled as wild in the phylogenies but as cultivar in table S5. Cui et al. (2) included 187 accessions from Asia, Africa, and South America, and rooted their phylogeny on two African species. Including African material was important because M. charantia occurs wild in Africa, Madagascar, and India (and naturalized in many tropical regions; refs. 3 and 4), and is used as a medicinal plant

McAPRR2: The Key Regulator of Domesticated Pericarp Color in Bitter Gourd

“…In contrast, Matsumura et al [9] reported that the signals of selection between wild and Southeast Asia (SEA) types predominantly arose from the selection during the SA-SEA divergence stage rather than the result of a gradual and accumulative evolution from wild to SA to SEA. Renner [11], integrating insights from two parallel studies, proposed that the bitter gourd expanded from Africa to Southeast Asia and underwent domestication there [6,11]. The domestication selection of bitter gourd pericarp color is associated with consumer preferences; individuals in the SEA region tend to favor a lighter green pericarp color [18].…”

“…charantia split roughly 1.9 million years ago, while the separation between muricata and charantia happened once again about 6000 years ago. Based on these parallel studies, Renner [11] raised a new insight that bitter gourd from Africa expanded to Southeast Asia and was domesticated there.…”

McAPRR2 : The Key Regulator of Domesticated Pericarp Color in Bitter Gourd

“…In contrast, Matsumura et al (2020) reported that the signals of selection between wild and Southeast Asia (SEA) types predominantly arose from the selection during the SA-SEA divergence stage, rather than the result of a gradual and accumulative evolution from wild to SA to SEA. Renner (2020), integrating insights from two parallel studies, proposed that the bitter gourd expanded from Africa to Southeast Asia underwent domestication there (Chomicki et al 2020;Renner 2020). The domestication selection of bitter gourd pericarp color is associated with consumer preferences, individuals in the SEA region tend to favor a lighter green pericarp color (Dhillon et al 2016).…”

“…charantia split roughly 1.9 million years ago, while the separation between muricata and charantia happened once again about 6,000 years ago. Based on these parallel studies, Renner (2020) raised a new insight that bitter gourd from Africa expanded to Southeast Asia and was domesticated there (Chomicki et al 2020;Renner 2020).…”

Functıonal food Momordıca charantıa: bıologıcal actıvıtıes

“…Although it varies regionally, it usually blooms in June-July and bears fruit in September-November. In Southeast Asia, its fruits are used in salads [15]. It is used to flavor many food products in China.…”