Round and large: morphological and genetic consequences of artificial selection on the gourd tree Crescentia cujete by the Maya of the Yucatan Peninsula Mexico

摘要

Background and AimsArtificial selection, the main driving force of domestication, depends on human perception of intraspecific variation and operates through management practices that drive morphological and genetic divergences with respect to wild populations. This study analysed the recognition of varieties of Crescentia cujete by Maya people in relation to preferred plant characters and documents ongoing processes of artificial selection influencing differential chloroplast DNA haplotype distribution in sympatric wild and home-garden populations.