Maize domestication

A partial solution to this dilemma could be that a large proportion of the protein-rich foods (meat, eggs) consumed by these people came from animals that were themselves fed a C4 diet. We know that dogs typically share the same diet as humans (Katzenberg 1989 Cannon et al. 1999) and are important components of the diet in some sites (eg., Cuello Hammond 1991 van der Merwe et al, this volume). It is unlikely that all the meat consumed by Maya peoples was derived from pure C4 consumers, however, as we have evidence for at least some C3-based animal bones that are presumed to be waste from food preparation. This should a subject of future study to test for the degree of domestication (and consequent feeding on maize) of meat-supplying animals such as turkeys. 

QTLs were also detected in tomato introgression lines (domestic tomatoes with single, defined chromosome regions selected from the progeny of a cross with a wild, non-pigmented variety) that correspond to candidate loci for which genes and mutants have been previously characterized. Detected QTLs included the r locus Psy), the Del locus (LcyE), and the B locus. Similar to the tissue-specific expression of maize Yl, the B locus codes a fruit-specific lycopene cyclase associated with higher levels of P-carotene. ... 

Tykot, R.H. (2006). Isotope analysis and the history of maize. In Histories of Maize Multidisciplinary Approaches to the Prehistory, Linguistics, Biogeography, Domestication and Evolution of Maize, ed. Staller, J.E., Tykot, R.H. and Benz, B.F., Elsevier Academic Press, Burlington, pp. 131-142. 

And as we shall see, the demands of turfgrasses are an immediate and profound influence on homeowners, which set people about tasks that keep them busy throughout the growing season. Given the labor performed by people for other domesticated crop species, as Denis Wood has asked regarding cereal grains-especially maize, which cannot reproduce on its own without its human servants- who s to say which species has domesticated which ... 

Since all known wild and domestic food plants in the eastern half of the United States prior to the introduction of corn used the C3 pathway, the dramatic shift in collagen 6 C values seen in these prehistoric bone samples could be interpreted only as the result of substantial maize consumption ... 

FIGURE 35.7 A compilation of data from human bone collagen 8 C values from sites in eastern United States plotted over time. The rise in 8 C is entirely due to the direct or indirect consumption of plants using the C4 photosynthetic pathway. Although maize has been domesticated throughout this period, its dominance in diet only became apparent after about 500 A.D. 

Even in well documented archaeological excavations, however, the context and dating of archaeobotanical specimens may be problematic 14), and the identification of small numbers and certain forms of maize phytoliths has also been argued by some to be unreliable 15-16). In any event, even after its initial domestication, there was most likely considerable temporal and spatial variability in the incorporation of maize into existing subsistence patterns, and it is extremely difficult to measure its importance relative to other food resources since there is no way to balance the uneven representation and preservation of botanical and faunal remains in the archaeological record. The consumption of maize can, however, be quantified through stable isotope analysis of human skeletal remains 17-20). 

Maize or com (Zea mays) has a long history as a domesticated crop. Today com is the most widely grown cereal crop in the world. In 2008, world com production was 826.3 million tonnes (USDA-FAS, 2008). It is estimated the grain yield will reach 1.2 tonnes/ha... 

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