Investigando el origen de las plantas agrícolas mediante evolución experimental

The evolution of crops and its impact on the traits of agricultural species is a debated and poorly demonstrated topic. Experimental evidence is lacking on how phenotypes evolve in proto-agricultural scenarios. This project uses experimental evolution and model plants to simulate these scenarios and compare different hypotheses about the origin of agricultural traits. We investigate whether (1) early agricultural practices favor fruits that do not disperse seeds, and (2) selection for yield and palatability affects traits such as seed size, earliness, or susceptibility to herbivores. We use Arabidopsis thaliana and Brassica rapa to observe how their phenotypes change evolutionarily under different management practices, allowing us to study plant evolution in relation to the domestication process in real time.