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Cassava, Manihot esculenta Crantz and wild relatives: Their relationships and evolution

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Abstract

About ninety eight species of Manihot arerecognized. All of them are native to the New world and areconcentrated in four regions of diversity in Brazil and CentralAmerica. All the Manihot species so far examinedhave 2n = 36 chromosomes. Interspecific hybrids betweencassava and its wild relatives show relatively regular meiosis, andfurther generations can be obtained. Electrophoresis shows affinityamong species of different sections, and between some of them andcassava. Both polyploidy and apomixis may have contributed tospeciation in this genus. Polyploidy offered genetic variabilitywhile apomixis is responsible for perpetuating new hybrid typesadapted to different environments. Cassava may have originated byhybridization between two wild Manihot speciesfollowed by vegetative reproduction of the hybrid.

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  1. Departamento de Genetica e Morfologia, Universidade de Brasilia, 70919, Brasilia, Brasil

    Nagib Nassar

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  1. Nagib Nassar
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Nassar, N. Cassava, Manihot esculenta Crantz and wild relatives: Their relationships and evolution. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 48, 429–436 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1012005008645

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