The Chickpea, Summer Cropping, and a New Model for Pulse Domestication in the Ancient Near East

Phenological variation among Israeli populations of Cicer judaicum Boiss.

“…This effect was obtained despite the generally mild Israeli winters compared with the lower winter temperatures and higher snow frequency in southeastern Turkey. This observation corroborates our hypothesis that lack of vernalisation response among domesticated chickpea (Summerfield et al 1989) is a result of adaptation of chickpea to subtropical climates following domestication (Abbo et al 2003a(Abbo et al , 2003b. The development of the main stem following vernalisation was strongly associated with the vernalisation response in Turkish C. reticulatum (Abbo et al 2002).…”

“…This almost universal phenomenon largely results from the genetic bottlenecks associated with the domestication process and the subsequent selection in man-made agro-ecosystems (e.g. Ladizinsky 1985;Abbo et al 2003aAbbo et al , 2003b. The biotic and abiotic constraints to crop productivity on the one hand and the wealth of genetic variation among wild relatives of crop plants on the other hand prompted the idea that wild progenitors may serve as a valuable source of allelic variation for crop improvement (e.g.…”

Ecological Genetic Divergence of the Fungal PathogenDidymella rabieion Sympatric Wild and DomesticatedCicerspp. (Chickpea)

“…Domesticated chickpea, Cicer arietinum L, is grown sympatrically with a number of annual and perennial Cicer relatives, including the immediate wild progenitor of domesticated chickpea, C. reticulatum Ladiz (39,58). Following the Neolithic agricultural revolution in southeastern Turkey (41), the Near Eastern crop package spread in all directions throughout the east Mediterranean and reached the southern Levant within 1 millennium (2,3). This "passage" of the cultigens, from their core region in southeast Turkey into the southern Levant, traversed populations of many of their wild progenitors and more distantly related wild relatives (e.g., wild barley, wild emmer wheat, wild bitter vetch, wild lentils, and wild peas), (2,3).…”

“…Following the Neolithic agricultural revolution in southeastern Turkey (41), the Near Eastern crop package spread in all directions throughout the east Mediterranean and reached the southern Levant within 1 millennium (2,3). This "passage" of the cultigens, from their core region in southeast Turkey into the southern Levant, traversed populations of many of their wild progenitors and more distantly related wild relatives (e.g., wild barley, wild emmer wheat, wild bitter vetch, wild lentils, and wild peas), (2,3). Presumably, these natural populations were infested by pathogens capable of infecting the domesticated forms (2,20,24).…”

“…Domesticated chickpea differs from the Near Eastern founder crops in its seasonal growth pattern. While most founder crops have retained the autumnal germination/spring maturation cycle like their wild relatives, domesticated chickpea is a spring-sown crop, germinating and developing up to 4 months later than its wild relatives (1,3). This shift of life cycle is puzzling since water availability in the Levant is a major yield-limiting factor and autumn-sown crops enjoy a substantial yield benefit.…”