Genetic history of coconut
Hugh Harries
Portable source of food, water
By Tony Fitzpatrick
Aug. 6, 2007 -- The coconut has been popular in lore and on palates for centuries, yet little is known about the history of coconut's domestication and dispersal around the world.
Now, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on the task of understanding the plant's history by exploring the genetics of the coconut (Cocos nucifera L.).
|
| Lovely bunch of coconuts. A biologist at Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on the task of understanding the plant's history by exploring the genetics of the coconut ( Cocos nucifera L.). |
Kenneth Olsen, Ph.D., Washington University assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, has received a $20,000 grant from the National Geographic Society to study the DNA of the plant, which can be used to infer historical relationships among populations. The work will be done in collaboration with Bee Gunn, a research specialist at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
"The coconut played a crucial role in the history of human exploration and dispersal across the tropics, and it continues to play a fundamental role in human societies today," said Olsen. "As a portable source of nutrition and water, the coconut was critical for humans to be able to voyage, establish trade routes, and colonize lands in the Pacific Rim, coastal India, Africa and South America.
"Our preliminary DNA sequence data show genetic variation within the coconut, and this is key to delineating historical relationships among different populations.
"Fossil data indicate that the coconut underwent an ancient dispersal event that predates human activity. This early dispersal is expected to have created a genetic signature that can be traced by examining the genetic structure of plants sampled across the species range."
Superimposed on this ancient 'phylogeographic' structure is the more recent history of human dispersal, cultivation and domestication, Olsen continued.
"Existing genetic data, while limited, suggest that the most highly domesticated 'Dwarf' form, grown worldwide is most closely related to Pacific populations," he said.
Both historically and today, this palm has myriad uses as a source of food, drink, and fuel. Every part of the plant is used, and recently coconut oil has been manufactured into bio-diesel in the Pacific, Olsen said.
He added that more than 11 million hectares (one hectare is equal to 100 acres) are now planted in coconut in 86 tropical countries.
Nestor Enriquez
Hugh Harries <hugh.h...@gmail.com> wrote:
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On a metter of detail, there is need to inform Tony Fitzpatrick, the author of the press release, that one hectare equals 2.5 acres, not 100 acres! One wonders when knowledge of the metric system might penetrate the heartland of the USA!
Mike Foale
-----Original Message-----
From: coc...@googlegroups.com on behalf of Hugh Harries
Sent: Tue 7/08/2007 2:11 AM
To: coc...@googlegroups.com
Cc:
Subject: Genetic history of coconut
Researcher to trace genetic history of coconut
By Tony Fitzpatrick
<http://news-info.wustl.edu/images/spacer.gif>
Aug. 6, 2007 -- The coconut has been popular in lore and on palates for centuries, yet little is known about the history of coconut's domestication and dispersal around the world.
Now, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on the task of understanding the plant's history by exploring the genetics of the coconut (Cocos nucifera L.).
Hengky Novarianto
This is very good news, although I wonder how adequate $20000 is to do a good job of extending the already excellent work done mostly by CIRAD scientists on the DNA linkages between the dispersed coconut populations of the world.
On a metter of detail, there is need to inform Tony Fitzpatrick, the author of the press release, that one hectare equals 2.5 acres, not 100 acres! One wonders when knowledge of the metric system might penetrate the heartland of the USA!
Mike Foale
-----Original Message-----
From: coc...@googlegroups.com on behalf of Hugh Harries
Sent: Tue 7/08/2007 2:11 AM
To: coc...@googlegroups.com
Cc:
Subject: Genetic history of coconut
Researcher to trace genetic history of coconut
Portable source of food, water
By Tony Fitzpatrick
Aug. 6, 2007 -- The coconut has been popular in lore and on palates for centuries, yet little is known about the history of coconut's domestication and dispersal around the world.
Now, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on the task of understanding the plant's history by exploring the genetics of the coconut (Cocos nucifera L.).
A biologist at Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on the task of understanding the plant's history by exploring the genetics of the coconut (*Cocos nucifera L.*).
Lovely bunch of coconuts. A biologist at Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on the task of understanding the plant's history by exploring the genetics of the coconut ( Cocos nucifera L.).
Kenneth Olsen, Ph.D., Washington University assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences, has received a $20,000 grant from the National Geographic Society to study the DNA of the plant, which can be used to infer historical relationships among populations. The work will be done in collaboration with Bee Gunn, a research specialist at the Missouri Botanical Garden.
"The coconut played a crucial role in the history of human exploration and dispersal across the tropics, and it continues to play a fundamental role in human societies today," said Olsen. "As a portable source of nutrition and water, the coconut was critical for humans to be able to voyage, establish trade routes, and colonize lands in the Pacific Rim, coastal India, Africa and South America.
"Our preliminary DNA sequence data show genetic variation within the coconut, and this is key to delineating historical relationships among different populations.
"Fossil data indicate that the coconut underwent an ancient dispersal event that predates human activity. This early dispersal is expected to have created a genetic signature that can be traced by examining the genetic structure of plants sampled across the species range."
Superimposed on this ancient 'phylogeographic' structure is the more recent history of human dispersal, cultivation and domestication, Olsen continued.
"Existing genetic data, while limited, suggest that the most highly domesticated 'Dwarf' form, grown worldwide is most closely related to Pacific populations," he said.
Both historically and today, this palm has myriad uses as a source of food, drink, and fuel. Every part of the plant is used, and recently coconut oil has been manufactured into bio-diesel in the Pacific, Olsen said.
He added that more than 11 million hectares (one hectare is equal to 100 acres) are now planted in coconut in 86 tropical countries.
Olsen will study the phylogeography of C. nucifera and its ancient dispersal; the geographical origin(s) of domestication; the impact of human activities in homogenizing population structure across the species range; and the possible geographical location of the undomesticated wild progenitor populations.
Source: http://news-info.wustl.edu/tips/page/normal/8984.html
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Genetics and Plant Breeding Division
Perera L. (2001) "Origin, domestication and genetic diversity of coconut: DNA Information" CORD XVII (1): 35-51
Perera L (2005) Genetic Diversity and relationships of coconut revealed by microsatellite markers. In: Plant Genome: Biodiversity and Evolution. Vol. I Part B, Phanerogams (Higher Groups). Eds. A.K sharma and A Sharma. Science Publishers Inc., USA. (ISBN 1-57808-353-2) March 2005
Perera L (2002) "Chloroplast DNA variation of Coconut is opposite to its nuclear DNA variation" CORD XVIII (2): 56-73
If I can be of any help to the group I am happy to assit them.
If anybody knows the contact details of the group, please be kind to inform me or forward this e-mail to them so that I can establish contacts with them directly. Otherwise it is embarasing to see already established facts coming as newly established findings.
----- Original Message -----From: Hugh HarriesSent: Monday, August 06, 2007 9:41 PMSubject: Genetic history of coconut
Charles R. Clement
Does the Google Coconut group have a webpage for storage of the articles and review documents that Dr. Perera mentioned? I think we would all love to see the state-of-the-art and what Ken Olsen can add to it. I agree with Dr. Perera that reinventing the wheel is not good science, but this often requires access to some difficult to obtain documents.
Kenneth M. Olsen <kol...@wustl.edu>
Best regards,
Charles Clement
>I have noted the kind of the DNA work proposed and condcuted by the Washington University university group. However, extensive and enough work has already been done on this issue since 1996 and much of information related to coconut origin, domestication, and dispersal has been discovered through microsatellite markers both by us (the molecular biologist at the Coconut Research Institute of Sri Lanka with some collaboration from SCRI, Scotland) and CIRAD. In fact the close relatioship of dwaf with pacific and south east asian coconut is not noval findings and it is something that has been found few yers ago by us and by scientist at CIRAD too.
>Thus It would be worthwhile, for the group to read and review all the molecular papers sofar published by us and CIRAD on coconut and the morphological diversity and some theories proposed by Dr. Hugh Harries to undertand what not to repeat and then extend their work beyond what has already been to fill the gaps and to find chloroplast DNA variation between different coconut varieties and also with other closely related palm species to really look into the origin and phylogeny.
>For your information I have listed few key review tpe of publicatons (not scientific papers published but review papers) for the group and the rest to read.
Perera L. (2001) "Origin, domestication and genetic diversity of coconut: DNA Information" CORD XVII (1): 35-51
Perera L (2005) Genetic Diversity and relationships of coconut revealed by microsatellite markers. In: Plant Genome: Biodiversity and Evolution. Vol. I Part B, Phanerogams (Higher Groups). Eds. A.K sharma and A Sharma. Science Publishers Inc., USA. (ISBN 1-57808-353-2) March 2005
Perera L (2002) "Chloroplast DNA variation of Coconut is opposite to its nuclear DNA variation" CORD XVIII (2): 56-73
>If I can be of any help to the group I am happy to assit them.
>If anybody knows the contact details of the group, please be kind to inform me or forward this e-mail to them so that I can establish contacts with them directly. Otherwise it is embarasing to see already established facts coming as newly established findings.
Lalith Perera (L. Perera)
Coconut Research Institute
Sri Lanka
- ----- Original Message -----
- From: Hugh Harries
- To: coc...@googlegroups.com
- From: Hugh Harries
- Sent: Monday, August 06, 2007 9:41 PM
- Subject: Genetic history of coconut
- Researcher to trace genetic history of coconut
- Portable source of food, water
![[]](https://groups.google.com/group/coconut/attach/73e7beec6679765a/2098d9.jpg?part=0.1&view=1)
- By Tony Fitzpatrick
- Aug. 6, 2007 -- The coconut has been popular in lore and on palates for centuries, yet little is known about the history of coconut's domestication and dispersal around the world.
- Now, a biologist at Washington University in St. Louis is embarking on the task of understanding the plant's history by exploring the genetics of the coconut (Cocos nucifera L.).
Hugh Harries
Hugh
====
George, Maria Luz (Bioversity-Malaysia)
Charles, Hugh, Lalith
If people want, we can have a place in the COGENT website for copies of interesting articles, especially those that are not freely available. We can start with your papers, Lalith.
Luz
Dr. Faure
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George, Maria Luz (Bioversity-Malaysia)
Okay! Lalith, please send me copies of your articles. Pdf would be good, but if not available, just scan with the smallest file size possible so that it would be easy for people to download. I have another suggestion in another topic heading.
Luz
Genetics & Plant Breeding
Genetics & Plant Breeding
Maria Luz George
I now have a page in the COGENT website for articles. However, the Euphytica file is damaged, could you send another copy? For the book chapter, maybe it is better to post the book chapter itself with the proper citation. In that way, people who refer to it can cite it properly.
Many thanks,
Luz.
Genetics and Plant Breeding Division
----- Original Message -----
From: Maria Luz George
George, Maria Luz (Bioversity-Malaysia)
Dear Lalith,
This is great! Yes, we hope to obtain and put important articles in the site (or links to them). We won’t have them immediately, but in the very near future as time allows. In the meantime, I invite our community to let us know what articles they want/need or send us copies of their papers so that we can start building our collection in the website.
If you have access to a scanner, electronic copies of the book chapter and other publication would be much better as it won’t cost anything to send the files to us and it will reach us much faster (rather than sending the photocopies by post).
Best wishes,
Luz
<BR
Genetics & Plant Breeding
----- Original Message -----
Genetics & Plant Breeding
----- Original Message -----From: Dr. FaureSent: Tuesday, August 07, 2007 4:22 PMSubject: Re: Genetic history of coconut
Dr. Faure
Lalith has asked "If anybody knows the contact details of the group, please be kind to inform me or forward this e-mail to them so that I can establish contacts with them directly" and you have provided Kenneth M. Olsen < kol...@wustl.edu> and the cvs of both Kenneth Olsen (Washington University) and Bee Gunn (Missouri Botanical Garden) are available at the web sites of their respective institutions...
I may be wrong but I think that the CRI and CIRAD work that Lalith refers to concerns the intra-generic relationships of existing varieties while Olsen and Gunn may be more interested in the extra-generic relations of Cocos and the possibility that the wild progenitors of the coconut were from South America.
Hugh
====
On 07/08/07, Charles R. Clement <charlesr...@yahoo.com.br > wrote:
Dear Hugh and colleagues,
Does the Google Coconut group have a webpage for storage of the articles and review documents that Dr. Perera mentioned? I think we would all love to see the state-of-the-art and what Ken Olsen can add to it. I agree with Dr. Perera that reinventing the wheel is not good science, but this often requires access to some difficult to obtain documents.
Kenneth M.. Olsen <kol...@wustl.edu>
Version: 7.5.476 / Virus Database: 269.11.11/944 - Release Date: 8/9/2007 2:44 PM
Roland BOURDEIX
Dear Colleagues,
We will publish next month, in the International Journal of Islands Affairs, a paper untitled “Islets Save Coconuts: from an old Polynesian practice to the new concept of a crop gene bank located on smallest islands”, by Bourdeix , T. Bambridge and S. Larrue,.
In this paper there is a chapter about Macapuno Island, and the recent discovery of a new macapuno variety able to germinate. I tried a few monthes ago to discuss this point in this forum, but up to now I did not have any reply from the Macapuno specialists.
So, hereunder is the text I plan to include in this paper. Could you give me your opinion about it ?
Kind regards,
Roland Bourdeix
Text from the paper:
Philippines, Thailand and Makapuno Coconuts
This will be our last love story between the coconut palm and a small island, but it is so nice that it would be a pitty not to tell it. There is an economically important coconut variety in the Philippines, which is called Makapuno. Instead of coconut water, the nut contains a soft, white jelly-like mass which is considered a delicacy. Makapuno is preserved in heavy sugar syrup and bottled for local consumption and export. Only in the Philippines, the domestic market needs 4 million kg of the highly-priced Makapuno meat annually. The sad fact is, less than 3% of that demand is being met. Makapuno coconuts are sold 30 pesos (0.65 USD) when normal coconut are priced 3 to 6 pesos only.
Growing Makapuno is unlike growing ordinary coconut trees. In each coconut bunch produced by such a palm, 15 to 20 % of the fruits only are Makapuno, the remaining are normal coconuts. Makapuno coconuts do not germinate because the abnormal jelly-like kernel do not support the growth and development of the embryo (Mujer et al., 1984). So the only way to reproduce a Makapuno coconut was to make germinate a normal coconut from a Makapuno palm ; and not all these germinated coconut will give Makapuno palms.
Then comes the coconut embryo culture technology. In the 1960s, Dr. Emerita de Guzman rescued the embryo from the non-germinating Makapuno coconuts. The resulting gave palm producing up to 100% Makapuno nuts (De Guzman & del Rosario, 1974; Cedo et al., 1984). Nowadays, in various locations in the Philippines, 9 laboratories are producing embryo cultured Makapuno coconuts for sale. But the price of a Makapuno seedling coming from vitroculture is 500 pesos (10;9 USD), and only a few farmer can afford it.
The Makapuno Island was created when the Thai government constructed a dam at Kanchanaburi near the Burmese border. The hills were submerged and their peaks turned into more than 100 islands. All the coconut trees in one of the island were destroyed and 100 percent embryo-rescued Makapuno palms were planted. No stray coconut pollens can reach the island because of the water barrier. All the marketing of the island was based on the fact that its coconuts never germinate, because they are 100 percent Makapuno.
A few years back, the Makapuno Island received a complaint from one of their customers that one of their 100-percent guaranteed Makapuno fruits germinated. The owner investigated and upon opening the fruit, it turned out to be Makapuno. As the evolutionary process is continually unfolding, one individual Makapuno was somehow able to develop enzymes to digest and metabolize the endosperm, thereby effecting germination. This began a search for the mother tree that bore this very unusual and attractive germinating Makapuno fruit.
Nowadays, according to Mr. Ray Ong, from the agriculture section of the newspaper « Philippines Star, the seedlings of this new strain of « germinating Makapuno » are sold in the Chatuchak Market in Bangkok.
Makapuno island have lead to a great and unexpected improvement of the Makapuno variety. The new palms grow and germinate like normal coconut but has the soft solid endosperm of the normal Makapuno. In the framework of our research projets, we plan to create some more Makapuno islands in French Polynesia and the Maldives.
--
passerelle antivirus du campus CNRS de Montpellier
--
Carlos B. Carpio
lethuy nguyen
reply to. In reality in Vietnam, no macapuno nut cant
germinate
Best regards,
--- Roland BOURDEIX <Roland....@cefe.cnrs.fr>
wrote:
> [1] <outbind://2/#_ftnref1> See
> http://www.aseanbiotechnology.info/News/24001059.htm
>
>
> --
> passerelle antivirus du campus CNRS de Montpellier
> --
>
>
>
>
>
>
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Roland BOURDEIX
De : coc...@googlegroups.com [mailto:coc...@googlegroups.com] De la part de Carlos B. Carpio
Envoyé : jeudi 8 novembre 2007 23:47
À : coc...@googlegroups.com
Objet : Re: About Macapuno
Importance : Haute
--
Hugh Harries
I wasn't sure if you wanted opinions on technical, grammatical or ethical aspects of your chapter. So I will leave the technical opinions to others who work with makapuno and I will offer grammatical opinions directly to you.
That leaves ethical opinion - by which I mean should Filipino makapuno farmers be right to object to competition from a French research project or have they already lost that privilege by releasing material to a Thai company?
Perhaps now is a good time to raise a broader issue - whether competition between national coconut researchers and producers prevents them from meeting the international challenges from palm oil, soybean and GM crops?
In a follow up email I plan to suggest how a Global Coconut Research Initiative might be made to work.
Hugh
====
Roland BOURDEIX
De : coc...@googlegroups.com [mailto:coc...@googlegroups.com] De la part de Hugh Harries
Envoyé : samedi 10 novembre 2007 08:33
À : coc...@googlegroups.com
Objet : [Coconut:1376] Re: About Macapuno
PLDT FOA- Gerardo Santos
Dear Roland,
I replied to your email but i dont know where it went. Anyway, my point is it was not impossible for a "germinating" macapuno to come out of Kanchanaburi after decades of intercrossing. Based on what i gathered from a thai friend, not all of the macapuno planted there came from pure macapuno, which means that Mm type embryos were used and not just mm type. The trait is recessive but somehow, the mm type, as you suggested may have developed the capacity to grow, as an organism would strive to survive in the face of extinction in isolation.
Gerry Santos
peyanoot naka
On behaft of Thailand we (Mr. Somchai) would like to participate the information on this topic as follows:
For 7 Years ago the owner of Makapuno Island in Thong pa-phumi District,Kanchanaburi province found out the mother palm that produced Makapuno fruits germinated.He harvested Makapuno nuts and raised them in the nursery. After three months he have got 5 seedlings but two of them grew up. The other three seedling dead. He brought two Makapuno seedlings to plant in Palm oil Island ,which far from Makapuno Island about 30 minutes by a rapid speed boat. Now they are six years old but they have not yet bared fruits. That is a history of the new strain of germinating Makapuno in Thailand.
The Makapuno seedlings that sell in Chatuchak market are not germinating Makapuno.
We are happy to join information with you and our friends.
Regards.
Somchai Watanayothin
Coconut Breeder
Horticulture Research Institute
Department of Agriculture
Chatucahk,Bangkok 10900
Tel 66-29405484-5 ext 117
Fax 662-5614667
Email: watan...@hotmail.com
> Subject: [Coconut:1378] Re: About Macapuno
> Date: Tue, 13 Nov 2007 10:38:40 +0800
> From: gasan...@pldtdsl.net
> To: coc...@googlegroups.com
Roland BOURDEIX
Thanks for this very useful information. This will avoid us to diffuse wrong information.
Kind regards,
Dr R. Bourdeix
-----Message d'origine-----
De : coc...@googlegroups.com [mailto:coc...@googlegroups.com] De la part de peyanoot naka
Envoyé : mardi 13 novembre 2007 09:21
À : coc...@googlegroups.com
Objet : [Coconut:1379] Re: About Macapuno
Carlos B. Carpio
PLDT FOA- Gerardo Santos
You are the "Thai friend" i was referring to in my email to the group. The information you gave is very useful. Hope you can follow up on those "macapuno" until they have borne fruits so the matter of a "germinating macapuno" could be solved. It be nice to do some DNA analysis for comparison with the real ones.
Best regards,
Gerry A. Santos
Inday Rillo
Roland BOURDEIX <Roland....@cefe.cnrs.fr> wrote:
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