Revising the sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) refugia history of the last glacial period with extended pollen and macrofossil evidence

Krebs, Patrik; Pezzatti, Gianni Boris; Beffa, Giorgia; Tinner, Willy; Conedera, Marco

doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.01.002

Cited by 51 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 79 publications

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“…A study of wild chestnut in Spain, Italy and Greece (Fernández-Cruz and Fernández-López 2016) found two main gene pools in Europe, and another study of wild, natural or naturalized populations (Mattioni et al 2017), found three. These 75 findings agree with evidence of spontaneous establishment originating from the Last Glacial Maximum refugia in the north of the Iberian, Italian and Balkan peninsulas, and in northern Anatolia (Krebs et al 2004(Krebs et al , 2019Roces-Díaz et al 2018). In southern France, there is possible evidence for chestnut refugia in palaeo-botanical data (Krebs et al 2019).…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 80%

“…These 75 findings agree with evidence of spontaneous establishment originating from the Last Glacial Maximum refugia in the north of the Iberian, Italian and Balkan peninsulas, and in northern Anatolia (Krebs et al 2004(Krebs et al , 2019Roces-Díaz et al 2018). In southern France, there is possible evidence for chestnut refugia in palaeo-botanical data (Krebs et al 2019). The preferred hypothesis is therefore that most pre-cultivation Castanea in France are the result of the spontaneous spread of the species from neighboring southern European refugia, i.e.…”

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 75%

“…The absence of significant genetic structure between forest and cultivated stands, and the high variance found within sampling regions, implies that each sampling region hosts substantial diversity, mostly shared with the other sampling regions. Such redundancy between sampling regions can be interpreted as the result of human exchanges (Bruneton-320 Governatori 1999; Conedera et al 2016;Krebs et al 2019;Pitte 1986). Concerning Var and Corsica, some information made us think that the sampled forest in these regions may previously have been used as chestnut orchards.…”

Section: Redundant Diversity Among Sampling Regions and No Differentimentioning

confidence: 99%

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High admixture between forest an cultivated chestnut (Castanea sativaMill.) in France

Bouffartigue

Debille

Fabreguette

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Key messageThis paper presents the results of the first assessment of genetic diversity and structure of wild and cultivated sweet 25 chestnut in France. It reveals high diversity, a low but significant structure, and strongly suggests that the French gene pool is at the intersection between the Italian and Spanish gene pools. Abstract Context 30Renewed interest in European chestnut in France is focussed on finding locally adapted populations partially resistant to ink disease and identifying local landraces. AimsWe genotyped trees to assess (i) the genetic diversity of wild and cultivated chestnut across most of its range in France, (ii) their genetic structure, notably in relation with the sampled regions, and (iii) relations with its neighbors in Spain 35 and Italy. MethodsA total of 1,401 trees in 17 sampling regions in France were genotyped at 13 SSRs, and a subset of 693 trees at 24 SSRs. ResultsGenetic diversity was high in most sampling regions, with redundancy between them. No significant differentiation was 40 found between wild and cultivated chestnut. A genetic structure analysis with no a priori information found a low, yet significant structure, and identified three clusters. Two clusters of sampling regions, south east France and Corsica, were 2/17 less admixed than the others. A substructure was detected in the admixed cluster suggesting differentiation in wild chestnut trees in Finistère and Aveyron sampling regions. Conclusion 45The genetic structure within and between our sampling regions is likely the result of natural events (recolonization after the last glaciation) and human activities (migration and exchanges). Notably, we provide evidence for a common origin of most French and Iberian chestnut trees, except those from, south east France that were associated with the Italian gene pool. This advance in our knowledge of chestnut genetic diversity and structure will benefit conservation and help our local partners' valorization efforts. 50Keywords Castanea sativa Mill.; chestnut; genetic diversity; genetic structure; microsatellite markers; landraces 55 3/17

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Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 80%

Section: Introductionsupporting

confidence: 75%

Section: Redundant Diversity Among Sampling Regions and No Differentimentioning

confidence: 99%

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High admixture between forest an cultivated chestnut (Castanea sativaMill.) in France

Bouffartigue

Debille

Fabreguette

et al. 2019

Preprint

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“…Chestnuts, as well as walnuts, survived cold climatic eras as fragmented populations confined in micro‐refugia of the Italian and Iberian Peninsulas. It is well recognized that the so‐called Colchis refugia (i.e., Southern Caucasus, Western Georgia) and the Turkish‐Balkan regions offered the best conditions for the survival of several thermophilous plants including C. sativa and J. regia (Krebs et al., 2019). In the same macro‐regions, marked concentration of localized idiosyncratic terms related to walnut and chestnut were detected, mainly reflecting the enormous phylogenetic diversity in languages recorded in such geographic areas (Gavin et al., 2013).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Finally, charcoal fragments of C. sativa were uncovered in the Neolithic site of Kobeaga II cave in the Spanish Basque Country (7,780 BP, Roces‐Díaza, Jiménez‐Alfarod, Chytrýf, Díaz‐Varelag, & Álvarez‐Álvarezc, 2018) and Aquitaine region of French Basque Country (Krebs et al., 2019). Although introduction of common walnut and sweet chestnut to France and Spanish was typically associated with “Roman globalization,” the presence of both species was detected during the emergence of proto‐historic urban centers in Central France (Corent Plateau, 3,640–3,340 BP, Ledger, Miras, Poux, & Milcent, 2015) and in Spanish Menorca Island (Cova de Cárritx, 3,400–2,750 BP, Stika, 1999) during Late Bronze Age (LBE).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Biocultural diversity of common walnut (Juglans regia L.) and sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) across Eurasia

Pollegioni

Lungo

Müller

et al. 2020

Ecology and Evolution

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A biocultural diversity approach integrates plant biology and germplasm dispersal processes with human cultural diversity. An increasing number of studies have identified cultural factors and ethnolinguistic barriers as the main drivers of the genetic diversity in crop plants. Little is known about how anthropogenic processes have affected the evolution of tree crops over the entire time scale of their interaction with humans. In Asia and the Mediterranean, common walnut ( Juglans regia L.) and sweet chestnut ( Castanea sativa Mill.) have been economically and culturally important crops for millennia; there, in ancient times, they were invested with symbolic and religious significance. In this study, we detected a partial geographic congruence between the ethno‐linguistic repartition of human communities, the distribution of major cognitive sets of word‐related terms, and the inferred genetic clusters of common walnut and sweet chestnut populations across Eurasia. Our data indicated that isolation by distance processes, landscape heterogeneity and cultural boundaries might have promoted simultaneously human language diversification and walnut/chestnut differentiation across the same geographic macro‐regions. Hotspots of common walnut and sweet chestnut genetic diversity were associated with areas of linguistic enrichment in the Himalayas, Trans‐Caucasus, and Pyrenees Mountains, where common walnuts and sweet chestnuts had sustained ties to human culture since the Early Bronze Age. Our multidisciplinary approach supported the indirect and direct role of humans in shaping walnut and chestnut diversity across Eurasia from the EBA (e.g., Persian Empire and Greek–Roman colonization) until the first evidence of active selection and clonal propagation by grafting of both species. Our findings highlighted the benefit of an efficient integration of the relevant cultural factors in the classical genome (G) × environmental (E) model and the urgency of a systematic application of the biocultural diversity concept in the reconstruction of the evolutionary history of tree species.

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Harmful self‐pollination drives gynodioecy in European chestnut, a self‐incompatible tree

Larue,

Petit

2024

American J of Botany

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PremiseGynodioecy is a rare sexual system in which two genders (sensu Lloyd, 1980), cosexuals and females, coexist. To survive, female plants must compensate for their lack of siring capacity and male attractiveness. In European chestnut (Castanea sativa), an outcrossing tree, self‐pollination reduces fruit set in cosexual individuals because of late‐acting self‐incompatibility and early inbreeding depression. Could this negative sexual interaction explain the presence of females in this species?MethodsWe studied gender variation in wild populations of European chestnut. In addition, we compared fruit set (the proportion of flowers giving fruits) and other key female fitness components as well as reproductive allocation between genders. We then performed emasculation experiments in cosexual trees, by removing nectar‐producing fertile male inflorescences. We also removed sterile but nectar‐producing male inflorescences from female trees, as a control.ResultsWe found a highly variable proportion of male‐sterile individuals in the wild in European chestnut. In the experimental plot, trees from each gender had similar size, flower density, and burr set, but different fruit set. Removing nectar‐producing male inflorescences from branches or entire trees increased fruit set in cosexual but not in female trees.ConclusionsThese results show that self‐pollination impairs fruit set in cosexual trees. Female trees avoid these problems as they do not produce pollen but continue to attract pollinators thanks to their rewarding male‐sterile inflorescences, resulting in a much higher fruit set than in cosexuals. This demonstrates that even outcrossed plants can benefit from the cessation of self‐pollination, to the point that unisexuality can evolve.

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Revising the sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) refugia history of the last glacial period with extended pollen and macrofossil evidence

Cited by 51 publications

References 79 publications

High admixture between forest an cultivated chestnut (Castanea sativaMill.) in France

High admixture between forest an cultivated chestnut (Castanea sativaMill.) in France

Biocultural diversity of common walnut (Juglans regia L.) and sweet chestnut (Castanea sativa Mill.) across Eurasia

Harmful self‐pollination drives gynodioecy in European chestnut, a self‐incompatible tree

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