Table 1.

Some centers of origin of crop domestication and the trait under selection.

Crop	Area of origin	Traits influenced under domestication	Source
Cereals
Rice	China	Reduction in grain shattering and seed dormancy; synchronization of seed maturation; reduction in tiller number; increase in tiller erectness; increase in panicle branches; Number of spikelets per panicle; reduction in hull and pericarp coloration and awn length	[10, 22, 23]
Barley	Fertile crescent, and Israel-Jordan area	Reduction in grain shattering; separation of seeds from hulls	[9]
Wheat	Southwest Asia (fertile crescent)	Reduction in shattering of grains (nonbrittle rachis); free-threshing trait	[27–29]
Maize	Mesoamerica	Increased apical dominance; production of seeds in relatively large numbers	[7, 8]
Brassicas
Cabbage	—	Large number of leaves surrounding the terminal bud	[30]
Cauliflower	—	Formation of inflorescence meristems	[31]
Legumes
Lentil	Mesoamerica	Seed dormancy	[32]
Vigna	Southeast Asia	Increase in seed and pod size, nontwining growth habit, loss of seed dormancy, and seed dispersal ability	[24]
Pea	Southwest Asia (fertile crescent)	Indehiscent pods; lack of dormancy dwarfness; less basal branches; large seeds; good seed quality day neutral flowering	[33]
Fibers
Cotton	Mexico and Peru	Fiber length and quality	[16, 25]
Vegetables
Tomato	Mesoamerica	Fruits' size, shape, and structure	[4, 26]
Potato	Andes and Amazonia	Shorter stolons, larger tubers, (often) colored and variously shaped tubers, and reduction of bitter tuber glycoalkaloids	[34]
Squash	Mesoamerica	increased seed length and peduncle diameter, change in fruit shape and color	[35]