Aegilops

Last updated

Goatgrasses
Aegilops geniculata Enfoque 2010-5-08 DehesaBoyaldePuertollano.jpg
Aegilops geniculata
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Plantae
Clade: Tracheophytes
Clade: Angiosperms
Clade: Monocots
Clade: Commelinids
Order: Poales
Family: Poaceae
Subfamily: Pooideae
Supertribe: Triticodae
Tribe: Triticeae
Genus: Aegilops
L.
Type species
Aegilops triuncialis
Synonyms [2] [3]
  • Triticum sect. Aegilops(L.) Godr. & Gren.
  • Triticum subg. Aegilops(L.) C. Yen & J.L. Yang
  • Triticum subg. Aegilops(L.) Schmalh.
  • AmblyopyrumEig
  • AegilemmaÁ.Löve
  • AegilonearumÁ.Löve
  • AegilopodesÁ.Löve
  • ChennapyrumÁ.Löve
  • Comopyrum(Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve
  • Cylindropyrum(Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve
  • Gastropyrum(Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve
  • KiharapyrumÁ.Löve
  • OrrhopygiumÁ.Löve
  • PatropyrumÁ.Löve
  • PerlariaHeist. ex Fabr.
  • Sitopsis(Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve

Aegilops is a genus of Eurasian and North American plants in the grass family, Poaceae. [4] [5] [6] They are known generally as goatgrasses. [7] Some species are known as invasive weeds in parts of North America. [8] [9] [10]

Contents

Description

These are annual plants, sometimes from rhizomes. The taller species reach about 80 centimeters in maximum height. The flat leaves are linear to narrowly lance-shaped, and are up to 15 centimeters long and one wide. The inflorescence is a spike with 2 to 12 solitary spikelets each up to 1.2 centimeters long. Some spikelets have one or three awns, and some have none. [8] [11] [12] [13]

Wheat

Genus Aegilops has played an important role in the taxonomy of wheat. The familiar common wheat (Triticum aestivum) arose when cultivated emmer wheat hybridized with Aegilops tauschii about 8,000 years ago. [14] [15] Aegilops and Triticum are genetically similar, as evidenced by their ability to hybridize, and by the presence of Aegilops in the evolutionary heritage of many Triticum taxa. [12] Aegilops is sometimes treated within Triticum. They are maintained as separate genera by most authorities because of their ecological characteristics, [12] and because when united they do not form a monophyletic group (the lowest common class will need to include some other genera). [15] [16]

Ecology

Some Aegilops are known as weeds. A. cylindrica , which is commonly known as jointed goatgrass, infests wheat fields, where it outcompetes wheat plants, reducing yields. Its seeds mix with wheat grains at harvest, lowering the quality of the crop. It can also harbor pests such as the Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia) and pathogenic fungi. Other Aegilops are weeds of rangeland and wildland habitat. [17]

Prehistoric Wild Food Source

During the Mesolithic era, nomadic peoples found goatgrasses (Aegilops) growing wild, along with wild wheats and barleys, and harvested them using bone sickles inset with sharp flakes of flint. The harvested plants were left to dry for a few days, then the edible grains were separated out from the rest of the plant material by beating the plants with a wooden flail, or by rolling them against a hard surface. The seeds were then carefully singed in the embers of a fire to burn away the remaining non-edible plant material. Some grains were accidentally burnt, and since the charred grains do not biodegrade some have been found by modern archeologists. [18]

Etymology

The genus name Aegilops is botanical Latin and comes from the Ancient Greek αἰγίλωψ (aigílōps), which is of uncertain origin. If the word is from αἴγιλος (aígilos, “goat”) + -ωψ (-ōps, “eye; -like”), it could mean "goatlike herb", "a herb liked by goats", or perhaps "a grass similar to that liked by goats". [8] On the other hand, it also referred to some species of oak, and since it resembles the Proto-Indo-European word for "oak", *h₂eyǵ- , this could be the source instead. In any case, it may be from the Pre-Greek substratum language. [19]

The word aegilops is claimed to be the longest word in the English language to have all of its letters in alphabetical order, and with no letters repeated, [20] [21] but the botanical sense is obsolete in English and aegilops persists in some medical literature, where it refers to an ulcer or fistula in the corner of the eye, another meaning of the Ancient Greek word.[ citation needed ]

Species

Aegilops tauschii Aegilops tauschii 04363.jpg
Aegilops tauschii
Accepted species [7] [22] [8] [11] [12]
Formerly included species

Species once regarded as members of Aegilops but now considered better suited to other genera: Ctenium , Dactyloctenium , Elymus , Eremochloa , Ophiuros , Parapholis , Rottboellia , and Triticum

See also

Related Research Articles

<i>Hordeum</i> Genus of grasses

Hordeum is a genus of annual and perennial plants in the grass family. They are native throughout the temperate regions of Africa, Eurasia, and the Americas.

<i>Alopecurus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the grass family Poaceae

Alopecurus, or foxtail grass, is a common and widespread genus of plants in the grass family. It is common across temperate and subtropical parts of Eurasia, northern Africa, and the Americas, as well as naturalized in Australia and on various islands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spelt</span> Species of grain

Spelt, also known as dinkel wheat or hulled wheat, is a species of wheat that has been cultivated since approximately 5000 BCE.

<i>Bromus</i> Genus of grasses

Bromus is a large genus of grasses, classified in its own tribe Bromeae. They are commonly known as bromes, brome grasses, cheat grasses or chess grasses. Estimates in the scientific literature of the number of species have ranged from 100 to 400, but plant taxonomists currently recognize around 160–170 species.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Common wheat</span> Species of plant

Common wheat, also known as bread wheat, is a cultivated wheat species. About 95% of wheat produced worldwide is common wheat; it is the most widely grown of all crops and the cereal with the highest monetary yield.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taxonomy of wheat</span> Classification of wheat

During 10,000 years of cultivation, numerous forms of wheat, many of them hybrids, have developed under a combination of artificial and natural selection. This diversity has led to much confusion in the naming of wheats. Genetic and morphological characteristics of wheat influence its classification; many common and botanical names of wheat are in current use.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Farro</span> Food made from the grains of certain wheat species

Farro is the grains of three wheat species, which are sold dried and cooked in water until soft. It is eaten plain or is often used as an ingredient in salads, soups, and other dishes.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triticeae</span> Tribe of grasses

Triticeae is a botanical tribe within the subfamily Pooideae of grasses that includes genera with many domesticated species. Major crop genera found in this tribe include wheat, barley, and rye; crops in other genera include some for human consumption, and others used for animal feed or rangeland protection. Among the world's cultivated species, this tribe has some of the most complex genetic histories. An example is bread wheat, which contains the genomes of three species with only one being a wheat Triticum species. Seed storage proteins in the Triticeae are implicated in various food allergies and intolerances.

<i>Aegilops bicornis</i> Species of grass

Aegilops bicornis is a species in the family Poaceae native to the Levant, Western Mesopotamia, Egypt & Libya

<i>Aegilops crassa</i> Species of plant in the family Poaceae

Aegilops crassa is an ornamental plant in the family Poaceae. It is referred to by the common name Persian goatgrass. It is native to Afghanistan, Iran, Iraq, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Palestine, Syria, Tajikistan, Transcaucasia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

<i>Aegilops tauschii</i> Species of grass

Aegilops tauschii, the Tausch's goatgrass or rough-spike hard grass, is an annual grass species. It is native to Crimea, the Caucasus region, western and Central Asia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, the western Himalaya, and parts of China, and has been introduced to other locales, including California.

Aegilops kotschyi is a member of the grass family, Poaceae, native to the Levant.

<i>Aegilops umbellulata</i> Species of grass

Aegilops umbellulata, the umbel goatgrass, is an annual grass that is closesly related to wheat. It is native to the East Aegean Islands, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon-Syria, Transcaucasus, and Turkey.

<i>Aegilops triuncialis</i> Species of grass

Aegilops triuncialis, or barbed goatgrass, is a grass species of the family Poaceae. It is a winter annual native to many areas in Eastern and Mediterranean Europe and Western Asia. It is considered an introduced, invasive species in North America, mainly in the Western coast of the United States. In its native lands, the grass thrives in mainly rocky, serpentine soil, but also does well in grasslands and ruderal/disturbed ground as well as oak woodlands.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Triticeae glutens</span> Seed storage protein in mature wheat seeds

Gluten is the seed storage protein in mature wheat seeds. It is the sticky substance in bread wheat which allows dough to rise and retain its shape during baking. The same, or very similar, proteins are also found in related grasses within the tribe Triticeae. Seed glutens of some non-Triticeae plants have similar properties, but none can perform on a par with those of the Triticeae taxa, particularly the Triticum species. What distinguishes bread wheat from these other grass seeds is the quantity of these proteins and the level of subcomponents, with bread wheat having the highest protein content and a complex mixture of proteins derived from three grass species.

<i>Parapholis incurva</i> Species of plant

Parapholis incurva is a species of grass native to Europe, Asia and northern Africa, and widely naturalised elsewhere. Common names include coast barbgrass, curved sea hard grass, curved hard-grass, sicklegrass, curved sicklegrass and curved parapholis.

<i>Rottboellia</i> Genus of grasses

Rottboellia is a genus of African, Asian, and Australian plants in the grass family.

<i>Rottboellia cochinchinensis</i> Species of grass

Rottboellia cochinchinensis is a species of grass known by the common names Itchgrass,Raoul grass, corngrass, Kokoma grass, Guinea-fowl grass, jointed grass, Shamwa grass and Kelly grass. It is a tall, tufted annual grass whose stems (culms) grow up to 3 metres in height with leaf-blades of up to 45 centimetres in length. The species flowers at the apex of culms in the form of spike-like racemes composed of paired spikelets. The common name Itchgrass comes from the bristly (hispid) leaf-sheath which can be irritating to the skin.

× Aegilotriticum is a nothogenus of flowering plants in the family Poaceae. They are the result of crosses between species of two distinct grass genera, Aegilops (goatgrasses) and Triticum (wheat). This type of intergeneric hybridization is quite rare, and is indicated by a multiplication symbol before the name. The name Aegilotriticum is an example of a portmanteau word, a combination of the two parents' names. This genus has at least 7 species.

HB4 wheat is a type of wheat that has been genetically modified by introducing sunflower genes, with the objective of improving crop productivity. Wheat, along with corn, rice and soybeans, constitute the basis of world food, and different scientific research was focused on improving its productivity. The improvements in food production achieved in the 90's agricultural production could equal the food demand of the world population, thanks to different technological improvements.

References

  1. ↑ lectotype designated by Hammer, Feddes Repert. 91: 225-228 (1980)
  2. 1 2 Tropicos, Aegilops L.
  3. ↑ "World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew". kew.org.[ permanent dead link ]
  4. ↑ Linnaeus, Carl von 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1050-1051 in Latin
  5. ↑ "Genere Aegilops - Flora Italiana". altervista.org.
  6. ↑ Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 444 山羊草属 shan yang cao shu Aegilops Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1050. 1753.
  7. 1 2 Aegilops. Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).
  8. 1 2 3 4 Watson, L. and M. J. Dallwitz. 1992 onwards. Aegilops. Archived October 10, 2008, at the Wayback Machine The Grass Genera of the World. Version: 18 December 2012.
  9. ↑ "Aegilops". County-level distribution maps from the North American Plant Atlas (NAPA). Biota of North America Program (BONAP). 2014.
  10. ↑ Aegilops classification systems. Archived 2013-10-22 at the Wayback Machine Wheat Genetic and Genomics Resource Center. Kansas State University.
  11. 1 2 Aegilops. The Jepson eFlora 2013.
  12. 1 2 3 4 Aegilops. Archived October 22, 2013, at the Wayback Machine Triticeae Genus Fact Sheets. Intermountain Herbarium. Utah State University.
  13. ↑ Aegilops. GrassBase. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Version 16 November 2012.
  14. ↑ Jia, J., et al. (2013). Aegilops tauschii draft genome sequence reveals a gene repertoire for wheat adaptation. Nature 496, 91–95.
  15. 1 2 Petersen, G., et al. (2006). Phylogenetic relationships of Triticum and Aegilops and evidence for the origin of the A, B, and D genomes of common wheat (Triticum aestivum). Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39(1), 70–82.
  16. ↑ Yamane, K. and T. Kawahara. (2005). Intra- and interspecific phylogenetic relationships among diploid Triticum-Aegilops species (Poaceae) based on base-pair substitutions, indels, and microsatellites in chloroplast noncoding sequences. American Journal of Botany 92(11), 1887-98.
  17. ↑ Aegilops. Encycloweedia Data Sheets. California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).
  18. ↑ Thomson, Peter (2010). Seeds, sex, and civilization: How the hidden life of plants has shaped our world. Thames and Hudson. 12,13.
  19. ↑ Beekes, Robert S. P. (2010). "αἰγίλωψ, -ωπος". Etymological Dictionary of Greek. Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series. with the assistance of Lucien van Beek. Leiden, Boston: Brill. p. 32. ISBN   9789004174207.
  20. ↑ "Real Facts | Snapple". Snapple. Retrieved 2018-06-23.
  21. ↑ Longest English word with letters arranged in alphabetical order. Guinness World Records.
  22. ↑ Aegilops. The Plant List.
  23. ↑ "RBG Kew: GrassBase - Aegilops biuncialis Description". kew.org.
  24. ↑ "Taxonomy - GRIN-Global Web v 1.9.8.2".

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Aegilops at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.