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![Locations of the Turkish archaeological sites.
Locations of the Turkish archaeological sites where the ancient wheat samples were obtained. [Image is for representative purpose only. [Source—http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw. Licensed under Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.]](profile/Anamika-Pandey-7/publication/299342355/figure/fig6/AS:349735492833282@1460394847524/Locations-of-the-Turkish-archaeological-sites-Locations-of-the-Turkish-archaeological.png)
Locations of the Turkish archaeological sites. Locations of the Turkish archaeological sites where the ancient wheat samples were obtained. [Image is for representative purpose only. [Source—http://sedac.ciesin.columbia.edu/gpw. Licensed under Creative Commons 3.0 Attribution License.]
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Human history was transformed with the advent of agriculture in the Fertile Crescent with wheat as one of the founding crops. Although the Fertile Crescent is renowned as the center of wheat domestication, archaeological studies have shown the crucial involvement of Çatalhöyük in this process. This site first gained attention during the 1961-65 exc...
Citations
... For more than 10,000 years, wheat cultivation has held a significant place within the socio-economic fabric of the "Fertile Crescent"-an area within the Eastern Mediterranean and West Central Asia (Bilgic et al. 2016;Diamond 1997Diamond , 2002Heun et al. 1997). However, the region, which recently surpassed the critical 1.5 °C temperature increase threshold compared to pre-industrial levels, now faces significant climatic challenges due to the accelerating pace of climate change (IPCC 2022). ...
Numerous studies have addressed climate change's impact on agriculture, yet the specific effects on wheat production in Turkey remain under-explored. This research aims to bridge this gap by quantifying these impacts in Turkey over 25 years. As the region's principal wheat producer, Turkey offers a unique context, situated in the area where wheat was first domesticated. We analyzed a comprehensive dataset comprising over 20,000 records from 820 political districts, employing a panel data fixed-effect model to mitigate unobserved heterogeneity and reveal dynamic time-related patterns. We focused on critical climate variables: temperature, precipitation, and drought. The results show a significant 9% decrease in wheat yields following a 1.5 °C rise in temperature, affecting nearly 1 million hectares. A notable finding is the 'May effect', highlighting how climatic changes in May disproportionately affect wheat yields. This study provides detailed insights into the temporal and geographic aspects of climate change's impact on wheat production, emphasizing the need for targeted policy actions and strategic agricultural planning, particularly in dry areas.
... While its primary meaning was given to the month of 'October', its secondary meaning, used as commonly as the first one, is 'sowing'. Speaking for a land with a wheat production tradition of decamillennium [5], sowing in Central Anatolia means sowing cereals, more specifically winter wheat. Yet, during the last few decades, global climate change has equally affected Anatolia, and a gradual warming of the winter has shifted the season for weeks, if not months, with more pronounced effects experienced during recent years. ...
... It might have originated in the same area, but all of the classic sites only report tetraploid wheat (Maier 1996) in the Neolithic. More recently, hexaploid wheat, both naked and hulled, could be proven genetically in Çatalhöyük in Turkey (Bilgic et al. 2016). Unlike T. spelta, chaff of naked hexaploid wheat is found in Neolithic contexts of different ages in Central Europe. ...
What turns an invention into an innovation? How, if at all, might we observe this process archaeologically? Loosely put, new varieties of plants or animals might be considered as inventions (whether from deliberate breeding or by chance), but ones that are only taken up by humans more systematically as innovations when certain social, demographic, economic and environmental factors encourage such take-up. The archaebotanically-observed history of spelt wheat (Triticum spelta) is an interesting case in this respect. Prior to 3000 bce, spelt is occasionally found in very small amounts at sites in eastern Europe and south-west Asia, but is usually considered to be a crop weed in such contexts, rather than a cultivar. However, rather suddenly across Central Europe ~ 3000−2500 bce spelt appears more consistently at multiple Chalcolithic and especially Bell Beaker sites, in quantities which suggest a shift to its use as a deliberate crop. By the full-scale Bronze Age in this region, spelt becomes one of the major crops. This paper discusses this Central European process in greater detail via macro-botanical evidence. It argues that demographic factors during the Neolithic may have inhibited the spread of Asian spelt into central Europe, and that while small amounts of local European spelt were probably present earlier on, it was only at the very end of the Neolithic, in tandem with human population increases and major technological changes such as the introduction of the plough that spelt was taken up as a cultivar. In particular, a shift by some communities in the region ~ 3000−2500 bce to more extensive (and sometimes plough-enabled) agricultural strategies may have favoured deliberate cultivation of spelt on less productive soils, given this variety’s relative robustness to harsher conditions. In other words, a combination of conditions was necessary for this innovation to really take hold.
... bread wheat or durum wheat). Bilgic et al. (2016) targeted the HMW promoter region in 8400-year-old specimens from a notorious Neolithic site in central Turkey, Çatalhöyük, to determine whether the genetic variability characteristic of the D genome could be recovered, as a proof of that wheat being hexaploid. The finding of HMW subunits from the A, B, and D genomes is quite remarkable, since it evidences the presence of hexaploid wheat at a very early point in time and highlights the importance of this settlement in the expansion of hexaploid wheat cultivation. ...
... Free-threshing naked wheats first appear in the archaeological record between 7000 and 5500 BCE (Feldman and Kislev 2007). Early naked wheats co-existed with domestic and wild emmer populations (Bilgic et al. 2016), giving opportunities for genetic exchange. Along with the protracted period of emmer domestication, this probably explains the higher genetic diversity on A and B subgenomes of modern bread wheat compared to the D subgenome (Cheng et al. 2019). ...
... Czajkowska et al. (2020) performed the extractions in laboratory facilities where no wheat had been processed before, hoping to preclude contamination. Bilgic et al. (2016) processed all samples in two different facilities, so that replication of the results acts as a proof of authenticity. In spite of this, even if contamination can be ruled out, it is not possible to distinguish deamination patterns from true polymorphisms. ...
Ancient DNA (aDNA) promises to revolutionise our understanding of crop evolution. Wheat has been a major crop for millennia and has a particularly interesting history of domestication, dispersal, and hybridisation, summarised briefly here. We review how the fledgling field of wheat archaeogenomics has already contributed to our understanding of this complex history, revealing the diversity of wheat in ancient sites, both in terms of species and genetic composition. Congruently, ancient genomics has identified introgression events from wild relatives during wheat domestication and dispersal. We discuss the analysis of degraded aDNA in the context of large, polyploid wheat genomes and how environmental effects on preservation may limit aDNA availability in wheat. Despite these challenges, wheat archaeogenomics holds great potential for answering open questions regarding the evolution of this crop, namely its domestication, the different dispersal routes of the early domestic forms and the diversity of ancient agricultural practices. Not only will this research enhance our understanding of human history, but it will also contribute valuable knowledge about ancient selective pressures and agriculture, thus aiding in addressing present and future agricultural challenges.
... On the rare occasions where DNA is preserved and extraction and sequencing of fragments from "fossil" plants can be successfully performed (Schlumbaum & al., 1987), it could be used for identification (Bilgic & al., 2016), but this is not a frequent case and the researcher must work without this information. ...
Can archaeobotanical material be treated as a nomenclatural type of a fossil taxon? Here we show that archaeobotanical taxa should be named according to the rules for non‐fossil taxa. Examples of archaeobotanical taxa are summarized and discussed. A best‐practice guide for the correct treatment of archaeological plant remains as the type of a new name is presented.
... While possible distinguishing criteria have been noted, such as the depth of the ventral furrow relative to the height of the grain, the same sources acknowledge a lack of consistency in these characteristics (for example, Moffett 1987;Hillman et al. 1996). Analysis of ancient DNA extracted from grains presents an alternative approach (for example, Schlumbaum et al. 1998;Fernández et al. 2013;Bilgic et al. 2016) but issues of preservation and contamination (as well as cost) inhibit widespread application. As regards distinguishing wheat remains within ploidy levels to (sub)species level, there is an even less established basis for separation using either grain or rachis segment characters (Jones 1998;Hillman et al. 1996, p. 204). ...
... While initial studies suggested the potential presence of tetraploid FTW (Fairbairn et al. 2002), subsequent work identified the rachis segments as hexaploid (Fig. 4;Bogaard et al. 2013Bogaard et al. , 2017. This identification was supported by ancient DNA (aDNA) analysis of the grains which demonstrated a sequence similar to modern hexaploid wheats (Bilgic et al. 2016). While the proportion of FTW in relation to other cereals does not follow a clear increase with time at Çatalhöyük, there is a shift towards free-threshing cereals, especially naked Hordeum (barley), between early and late phases, perhaps indicating an increasing preference over time for crops requiring less labour-intensive processing . ...
Current knowledge of the origins and routes of introduction of both tetraploid and hexaploid free-threshing wheats (FTWs) from western Asia into Europe remains imprecise. Archaeobotanical distinction of ploidy level is often dependent on sparsely recovered rachis segments, while more specific identification of cultivars within ploidy groups using morphological characteristics of either grain or chaff is generally considered unreliable. This study offers a complementary approach by using geometric morphometric (GMM) analysis of grain shape to assess taxonomic and variety level distinctions in archaeobotanical FTW remains. Two substantial and well-preserved assemblages of Neolithic FTW grains from 7th millennium bce Çatalhöyük (central Anatolia, Turkey) and 6th millennium Kouphovouno (Peloponnese, Greece) were analysed with the aim of shedding light on the naked wheats cultivated by these early agricultural communities. While chaff remains from Çatalhöyük indicate a hexaploid FTW crop, no such diagnostic remains were recovered from Kouphovouno. GMM analysis of the archaeobotanical grains has corroborated early cultivation of hexaploid naked wheat at Çatalhöyük, whilst revealing that a tetraploid wheat, most closely resembling ‘unimproved’ durum wheat, was likely grown at Kouphovouno. The Kouphovouno findings are contextualised within existing theories of a Mediterranean route for introduction of tetraploid FTWs from western Asia to south-western Europe. At both sites, an assessment of the role of FTWs over time suggests changes in the cultural value attributed to these crops and/or the sustainability of the agricultural regimes they were associated with.
... Charring is the most common preservation of crop seeds, yet utilisation of charred seeds for aDNA extraction is challenging. Many research groups have studied charred grains of cereal remains (Allaby et al. 1994(Allaby et al. , 1997Bilgic et al. 2016;Boscato et al. 2008;Brown and Brown 1994;Ciftci et al. 2019;Fernandez et al. 2013;Kohler-Scheider and Caneppele 2009;Nasab et al. 2010;Oliveira et al. 2012;Schlumbaum et al. 1998). However, the success in aDNA extraction and amplification is highly dependent on the extent of charring because charred aDNA fragments are very short in length. ...
Archaeobotanical materials subject to aDNA analysis were recovered from Yumuktepe and Yenikapı, two important archaeological sites in Anatolia and date back to the Pottery Neolithic Period i.e., 7th millennium BC. Many charred ancient seeds representing various cereal species including a great number of wheat grains were documented in mentioned sites. Among the cereal seeds, charred wheat samples were tentatively identified as Triticum aestivum subsp. spelta L. or Triticum new glume wheat (NGW) or atypical emmer or naked wheat in Yumuktepe and Yenikapı showed similarities with the morphological characteristics of T. aestivum subsp. spelta wheat, but it was difficult to reach a firm conclusion. This study aimed to provide genetic data to enable more precise identification of charred wheat seeds using an ancient DNA (aDNA) approach. aDNAs were successfully extracted from the representative charred seeds of T. aestivum subsp. spelta or NGW or atypical emmer or naked wheat. The PCR amplification of 26SrDNA and IGS gene regions with aDNA was carried out and sequenced. The expected product sizes of IGS 158 bp for the D genome and 87 bp for the A or B genomes and DNA sequence comparisons with other wheat species revealed that T. aestivum subsp. spelta or NGW or atypical emmer or naked wheat samples included the D genome from Aegilops tauschii and is more likely to be T. aestivum subsp. spelta. The discovery of T. aestivum subsp. spelta grains in the Yenikapı and Yumuktepe suggest that the cultivation of hexaploid wheat was widespread. Further, spelta hulled wheat, which is the progenitor of the hexaploid wheat, might have been cultivated in these settlements.
... Another puzzling fact about hexaploid wheat origin is that there is no archeological record of the hulled, spelt-like type that should have emerged from a T. turgidum  Ae. tauschii allohexaploid (see below). The earliest archeological findings of hexaploid wheat are from an 8,400-year-old, freethreshing type in Cafer Hoyuk, upper Euphrates (Bilgic et al., 2016) rather than from the location of origin predicted from the genomic data (Zhou et al., 2021) in the south Caspian ( Figure 2). The lack of hulled, spelt-like types in the archeological record suggests that the free-threshing mutation occurred very soon after hexaploid wheat formation and was preferred, in most regions, over the original Spelt-like type. ...
Bread wheat (Triticum aestivum, genome BBAADD) is a young hexaploid species formed only 8500-9000 years ago through hybridization between a domesticated free-threshing tetraploid progenitor, genome BBAA, and Aegilops tauschii, the diploid donor of the D subgenome. Very soon after its formation, it spread globally from its cradle in the fertile crescent into new habitats and climates, to become a staple food of humanity. This extraordinary global expansion was probably enabled by allopolyploidy that accelerated genetic novelty through the acquisition of new traits, new intergenomic interactions, and buffering of mutations, and by the attractiveness of bread wheat’s large, tasty, and nutritious grain with high baking quality. New genome sequences suggest that the elusive donor of the B subgenome is a distinct (unknown or extinct) species rather than a mosaic genome. We discuss the origin of the diploid and tetraploid progenitors of bread wheat and the conflicting genetic and archaeological evidence on where it was formed and which species was its free-threshing tetraploid progenitor. Wheat experienced many environmental changes throughout its evolution, therefore, while it might adapt to current climatic changes, efforts are needed to better use and conserve the vast gene pool of wheat biodiversity on which our food security depends.
... Although wheat has as its center of origin, the Asian region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, where the edaphic and climatic conditions are completely different from most of the worldwide wheat-producing regions, this cereal has spread throughout many regions of earth (Asseng et al. 2015). Wheat constitutes one of the oldest species cultivated by man (more than 12,000 years) (Bilgic et al. 2016). Each day, at least one crop of this important cereal matures worldwide (Acevedo et al., 2018), showing its capacity to grow and produce at different edaphoclimatic environments. ...
The Yaqui Valley, Sonora, is the largest producer of durum wheat in Mexico, generating a production volume of 349,158 t annually, in average. Precisely, in this valley started the so-called Green Revolution. Currently, 90% of this production falls on the CIRNO C2008 wheat variety since 2008–2009 crop cycle, due to its genetic stability still under changing climate conditions. A study of the effect of incremental temperature variability on morphologic and agronomic variables of CIRNO C2008 wheat variety during the crop cycles from 2008–2009 to 2018–2019 was carried out at the Yaqui Valley, Mexico. The variability of the amount of land sown in each crop cycle is reported. We explore the correlations between temperature and tillering capacity, and number of productive tillers, as well as the relation between number of cold hours received by the crop and the biomass and grain yield. A temperature variation of 2.5 °C took place from the base crop cycle (2008–2009) to the 2018–2019 cycle. During this period, there was a 30% reduction in the amount of land dedicated to this variety. There was a negative and significant correlation between temperature and number of productive tillers. The number of cold hours received by the crop correlated positively with the number of productive tillers. The study allowed to conclude that, due to temperature increments during the 11 crop cycles, there is a reduction of 7.22% and 25.7% on biomass and grain yield, respectively.
... Origin and importance: Bread, also known as ordinary wheat, is an undoubtedly significant domesticated plant; it also has a long history in agriculture (Bilgic et al., 2016). Wheat has become an essential element of the global diet, supplying vital nutrients such as protein, vitamins, and minerals. ...
Every crop breeding effort seeks to enhance production. Despite several advances, most worldwide breeding efforts have long
sought to improve grain production potential, insect/pest/disease resistance, grain quality, and stress tolerance. Almost all
wheat breeding programs aim to increase grain yield potential. Wheat breeders have achieved substantial improvements in
crop yield. Genetic transformation, cloning, and genetic engineering increase production potential in wheat. The primary
breeding strategy for wheat is the pedigree. However, hybrids and population improvement are also utilized. Breeders utilized
biotechnology to increase breeding success. Biotechnology and genome editing are examples of current technology that can
improve global agriculture production by assisting crop development. Traditional wheat breeding methods have been
supplemented with biotechnology to speed up wheat improvement efforts. These methods will speed up wheat biology research
and help to develop wheat breeding plans. However, many programs in developing countries (especially) are still trying to
include them.
Keywords: Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), Conventional wheat breeding, mutagenesis, mutant, molecular marker-assisted
breeding, genome editing technologies, genetic transformation.
