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An Interdisciplinary Perspective on the Origin of Maize

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Mary W. Eubanks
Mary W. Eubanks*
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Duke University, Durham, NC 27708-0338
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Abstract

This paper addresses objections raised in an article by Bennetzen et al. (2000) in response to MacNeish and Eubanks (2000). Bennetzen et al. interpret the findings reported by MacNeish and Eubanks as opposition to the teosinte hypothesis for the origin of maize. However, by demonstrating a mutagenic mechanism that could have generated the genetic diversity essential for the transition from teosinte to maize, and the subsequent explosive evolution of maize in the archaeological record, the Tripsacum-diploperennis introgression derivatives confirm that teosinte is a progenitor of maize. Although Bennetzen et al. claim that the Tripsacum- diploperennis crosses are not credible, DNA fingerprinting verified that the hybrids contain genes from their teosinte and Tripsacum parents. Archaeobotanical remains of teosinte, Tripsacum, and hybrid specimens have been reported from Tamaulipas and Oaxaca. One of the "hybrid" specimens from Tamaulipas is virtually identical to an experimental Tripsacum-diploperennis segregate. The ability to experimentally reproduce forms that closely resemble archaeological specimens lends compelling support to the hypothesis that intergeneric hybridzation gave rise to the mutations that, through human selection, transformed teosinte into domesticated maize.

Resumen

Resumen

Este artículo discute las objeciones en el artículo por Bennetzen et al. (2000) en el cual responden a MacNeish y Eubanks (2000). Bennetzen et al. mantienen que los hallazgos de MacNeish y Eubanks no apoyan a la hipótesis que considera teosinte como el progenitor del maíz. Pero, al demostrar un mecanismo de los pasos de transición del progenitor teosinte al maíz domesticado, los híbridos Tripsacum-diploperennis confirman que teosinte es un antepasado del maíz. Aunque Bennetzen et al. creen que los híbridos Tripsacum-diploperennis no son creíbles, la comprobación de DNA comprueba que los híbridos tienen los genes de los padres, teosinte y Tripsacum. Los restos arqueobotánicos de teosinte, Tripsacum, y los híbridos (que son virtualmente idénticos a algunas segregaciones experimentales de Tripsacum-diploperennis F2) apoyan a la hipótesis que sugiere que una híbridación entre teosinte y Tripsacum produció las mutaciones que, con la ayuda de los humanos, transformaron el teosinte al maíz domesticado. Esta evidencia experimental nueva apoya a la hipótesis que mantiene que teosinte fue un antepasado del maíz domesticado.

Type
Comments
Information
Latin American Antiquity , Volume 12 , Issue 1 , March 2001 , pp. 91 - 98
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 2001

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