Changes in seed characteristics during the domestication of the lablab bean (Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet: Papilionoideae)
Brigitte L. Maass A B and Macalister F. Usongo AA Department of Crop Sciences, Agronomy in the Tropics, Georg-August-University, Grisebachstr. 6, D-37077 Göttingen, Germany.
B Corresponding author. Email: bmaass@gwdg.de
Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 58(1) 9-19 https://doi.org/10.1071/AR05059
Submitted: 26 February 2005 Accepted: 12 September 2006 Published: 2 January 2007
Abstract
Morphological, anatomical, physiological, and nutritional seed characteristics of the lablab bean (Lablab purpureus) were investigated in 46 germplasm accessions, from wild through semi-domesticated forms to landraces and current cultivars. This study aimed to improve the understanding of the domestication process in this tropical crop legume. Wild accessions were distinguished by typical small, brownish and mottled seeds. Cultivated and semi-domesticated forms showed much wider variation in size, colour and shape. Most wild accessions had a thicker seed testa as well as a greater spread of germination over time and larger proportions of hard seeds than most cultivated and semi-domesticated accessions, which germinated more uniformly. Generally, wild accessions showed higher tannin and nitrogen values. In most characteristics, semi-domesticated accessions were intermediate. Not all cultivated accessions combined all typical features of the ‘domestication syndrome’. This was particularly obvious in the dendrogram generated by cluster analysis from a relative domestication index calculated from seed mass and seed-coat texture for any pair of accessions. On the basis of seed characteristics of the germplasm studied, the crop is considered to have originated from Africa.
Additional keywords: genetic diversity, genetic resources, germination, hardseededness, dormancy, tropical legumes.
Acknowledgments
Generous provision of seeds by B. C. Pengelly (CSIRO-ATFGRC) is gratefully acknowledged. Access to laboratories as well as technical instruction and guidance at the University of Göttingen given by the late U. Hofmann (anatomy), A. Keutgen (tannins), and U. Ronsöhr (N) are also appreciated. The thorough review by two anonymous reviewers helped to substantially improve the manuscript.
Asiedu EA, Powell AA
(1998) Comparisons of the storage potential of cultivars on cowpea (Vigna unguiculata) differing in seed coat pigmentation. Seed Science and Technology 26, 211–221.
Cameron DF
(1967) Hardseededness and seed dormancy of Townsville lucerne (Stylosanthes humilis) selections. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture and Animal Husbandry 7, 237–240.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Daiber K
(1975) Enzyme inhibition by polyphenols of sorghum grain and malt. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 26, 1399–1411.
| Crossref |
Deka RK, Sarkar CR
(1990) Nutrient composition and antinutritional factors of Dolichos lablab L. seeds. Food Chemistry 38, 239–246.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
ISTA
(1999) Internationale Vorschriften für die Prüfung von Saatgut – Ergänzungen 1999. Seed Science and Technology Suppl 27, 1–357.
Ladizinsky G
(1985) Founder effect in crop-plant evolution. Economic Botany 39, 191–199.
Liu CJ
(1998) Lablab cv. Endurance. Plant Varieties Journal 11, 26–27.
Maass BL
(2006) Changes in seed morphology, dormancy and germination from wild to cultivated hyacinth bean germplasm (Lablab purpureus: Papilionoideae). Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 53, 1127–1135.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Maass BL,
Jamnadass RH,
Hanson J, Pengelly BC
(2005) Determining sources of diversity in cultivated and wild Lablab purpureus related to provenance of germplasm using amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP). Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 52, 683–695.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
McDonald CK
(2000) Variation in the rate of hard seed breakdown of twelve tropical legumes in response to two temperature regimes in the laboratory. Australian Journal of Experimental Agriculture 40, 387–396.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Miao ZH,
Fortune JA, Gallagher J
(2001) Anatomical structure and nutritive value of lupin seed coats. Australian Journal of Agricultural Research 52, 985–993.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Pengelly BC, Maass BL
(2001) Lablab purpureus — diversity, potential use and determination of a core collection of this multi-purpose tropical legume. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 48, 261–272.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
Santalla M,
Menéndez-Sevillano MC,
Monteagudo AB, de Ron AM
(2004) Genetic diversity of Argentinean common bean and its evolution during domestication. Euphytica 135, 75–87.
| Crossref | GoogleScholarGoogle Scholar |
von Schaaffhausen R
(1963) Dolichos lablab or hyacinth bean: its uses for feed, food and soil improvement. Economic Botany 17, 146–153.
Smartt J
(1985) Evolution of grain legumes. II. Old and new world pulses of lesser economic importance. Experimental Agriculture 21, 1–18.
Sultana N,
Ozaki YH, Okubo H
(2000) The use of RAPD markers in lablab bean (Lablab purpureus (L.) Sweet) phylogeny. Bulletin of the Institute of Tropical Agriculture, Kyushu University 23, 45–51.
Verdcourt B
(1970) Lablab Adans. Studies in the Leguminosae-Papilionoideae: III. Kew Bulletin 24, 409–411.
Verdcourt B
(1979) Lablab. A manual of New Guinea legumes. Botany Bulletin 11, 537.
Yamaguchi H
(1992) Wild and weed azuki beans in Japan. Economic Botany 46, 384–394.
