Vavilov center

A Vavilov center or center of origin is a geographical area where a group of organisms, either domesticated or wild, first developed its distinctive properties.^[1] They are also considered centers of diversity. Centers of origin were first identified in 1924 by Nikolai Vavilov.

Plants

Locating the origin of crop plants is basic to

genes

, which may provide resistance to diseases). Knowledge of the origins of crop plants is important in order to avoid

gene banks

(largely seed collections but now frozen stem sections) and preservation of natural habitats (especially in centers of origin).

Vavilov centers

Neolithic revolution and List of food origins

A Vavilov Center (of Diversity) is a region of the world first indicated by Nikolai Vavilov to be an original center for the domestication of plants.^[3] For crop plants, Nikolai Vavilov identified differing numbers of centers: three in 1924, five in 1926, six in 1929, seven in 1931, eight in 1935 and reduced to seven again in 1940.^[4]^[5]

Vavilov argued that plants were not domesticated somewhere in the world at random, but that there were regions where domestication started. The center of origin is also considered the center of diversity.

Vavilov's scheme as updated by Schery and Janick

Vavilov centers are regions where a high diversity of crop wild relatives can be found, representing the natural relatives of domesticated crop plants.

Cultivated plants of eight world centers of origin ^[6]^[7]

Center	Plants
1) South Mexican and Central American Center	Includes southern sections of Mexico, Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras and Costa Rica. Grains and Legumes: grain amaranth Melon Plants: malabar gourd, winter pumpkin, chayote Fiber Plants: henequen (sisal) Miscellaneous: sweetpotato, arrowroot, pepper, papaya, guava, cashew, wild black cherry, chochenial, cherry tomato, cacao .
2) South American Center	62 plants listed; three subcenters 2) Peruvian, Ecuadorean, Bolivian Center: Root Tubers: Andean potato, Other endemic cultivated potato species. Fourteen or more species with chromosome numbers varying from 24 to 60, Edible nasturtium Grains and Legumes: starchy maize, common bean Root Tubers: edible canna, potato Vegetable Crops: ground cherry, pumpkin, pepper Fibre Plants: Egyptian cotton Fruit and Miscellaneous: quinine tree, tobacco, cherimoya, coca 2A) Chiloé Center (Archipelago near the coast of southern Chile) Common potato (48 chromosomes), Chilean strawberry 2B) Brazilian-Paraguayan Center Erva-mate, purple granadilla .
3) Mediterranean Center	Includes all of Northern Africa bordering the Mediterranean Sea . 84 listed plants Cereals and Legumes: lupine Forage Plants: serradella Oil and Fibre Plants: black mustard, olive Vegetables: garden beet, cabbage, turnip, lettuce, asparagus, celery, chicory, parsnip, rhubarb , Ethereal Oil and Spice Plants: caraway, anise, thyme, peppermint, sage, hop.
4) Middle East	Includes interior of Transcaucasia, Iran, and the highlands of Turkmenistan . 83 species Grains and Legumes: lupine Forage Plants: vetch, hairy vetch Fruits: fig, pomegranate, apple, pear, quince, cherry, hawthorn.
5) Abyssinian Center	Includes Ethiopia, Eritrea, and part of Somalia. 38 species listed; rich in wheat and barley. Grains and Legumes: Abyssinian hard wheat, poulard wheat, teff Miscellaneous: enset .
6) Central Asiatic Center	Includes Northwest India (Punjab, Northwest Frontier Provinces and Kashmir), Tian-Shan . 43 plants Grains and Legumes: horse bean, chickpea, mung bean, mustard, flax, sesame Fiber Plants: hemp, cotton Vegetables: onion, garlic, spinach, carrot Fruits: pistachio, pear, almond, grape, apple.
7) Indian Center	Two subcenters 7) Indo-Burma: Main Center (India): Includes Burma , but not Northwest India, Punjab, nor Northwest Frontier Provinces, 117 plants Cereals and Legumes: rice bean, cowpea , Vegetables and Tubers: eggplant, cucumber, radish, taro, yam Fruits: mango, tangerine, citron, tamarind Sugar, Oil, and Fibre Plants: tree cotton, oriental cotton, jute, crotalaria, kenaf Spices, Stimulants, Dyes, and Miscellaneous: hemp, black pepper, gum arabic, sandalwood, indigo, cinnamon tree, croton, bamboo, turmeric, 7A) Siam-Malaya-Java: statt Indo-Malayan Center: Includes Indo-China and the Malay Archipelago, 55 plants Cereals and Legumes: Job's tears, velvet bean Fruits: pummelo, banana, breadfruit, mangosteen Oil, Sugar, Spice, and Fibre Plants: manila hemp .
8) Chinese Center	A total of 136 endemic plants are listed in the largest independent center Cereals and Legumes: Japanese barnyard millet, sorghum, buckwheat, hull-less barley, soybean, Adzuki bean, velvet bean Roots, Tubers, and Vegetables: Chinese yam, radish, Chinese cabbage, onion, cucumber Fruits and Nuts: litchi, orange Sugar, Drug, and Fibre Plants: opium poppy, ginseng camphor, hemp .

Purugganan and Fuller 2009 scheme

^[9]

Center	Plants	Years before present
1) eastern North America	Helianthus annuus	4,500–4,000 years
2) Mesoamerica	Cucurbita pepo	10,000
	Zea mays	9,000–7,000
2a) northern lowland neotropics	Ipomoea batatas, Phaseolus vulgaris, tree crops	9,000–8,000
3) central mid-altitude Andes	Chenopodium quinoa, Amaranthus caudatus	5,000
3a) north and central Andes, mid-altitude and high altitude areas	Solanum tuberosum, Oxalis tuberosa, Chenopodium pallidicaule	8,000
3b) lowland southern Amazonia	Arachis hypogaea	8,000
3c) Ecuador (part of 3, 3a, and/or 3b?) and northwest Peru	Phaseolus lunatus, Canavalia plagiosperma, and Cucurbita ecuadorensis	10,000
4) western sub-Saharan African	Pennisetum glaucum	4,500
4a) west African savanna and woodlands	Vigna unguiculata	3,700
	Digitaria exilis and Oryza glaberrima	<3,000
4b) west African rainforests	Dioscorea rotundata and Elaeis guineensis	poorly documented
5) east Sudanic Africa	Sorghum bicolor	>4,000?
6) east African uplands	Eleusine coracana	4,000?
east African lowlands	Dioscorea cayennensis and Ensete ventricosum	poorly documented
7) Near East	Cicer arietinum, Vicia faba	13,000–10,000
7a) eastern Fertile Crescent	additional Hordeum vulgare
	goats	9,000
8a) Gujarat, India	Panicum sumatrense and Vigna mungo	5,000?
8b) Upper Indus	Vigna radiata, and Vigna aconitifolia	5,000
8c) Ganges	Oryza sativa subsp. indica	8,500–4,500
8d) southern India	Vigna radiata, and Macrotyloma uniflorum	5,000–4,000
9) eastern Himalayas and Yunnan uplands	Fagopyrum esculentum	5,000?
10) northern China	Panicum miliaceum	8,000
	Glycine max	4,500?
11) southern Hokkaido , Japan	Echinochloa crusgalli	4,500
12) Yangtze River Valley , China	Oryza sativa subsp. japonica	9,000–6,000
12a) southern China	Coix lacryma-jobi	poorly documented, 4,500?
13) New Guinea and Wallacea	Colocasia esculenta, Dioscorea esculenta, and Musa acuminata	7,000

References

^ "International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture" (PDF). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2009. p. Article 2.
S2CID 13350469
.

^ Blaine P. Friedlander Jr (June 20, 2000). "Cornell and Polish research scientists lead effort to save invaluable potato genetic archive in Russia". Retrieved March 19, 2008.

ISBN 978-0521404273
.

^ Corinto, Gian Luigi (2014). "Nikolai Vavilov's Centers of Origin of Cultivated Plants With a View to Conserving Agricultural Biodiversity". Human Evolution. 29 (4): 285–301.

^ Adapted from Vavilov (1951) by R. W. Schery, Plants for Man, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1972

^ History of Horticulture, Jules Janick, Purdue University, 2002

PMID 24753573
.

S2CID 205216444
.

[1] "International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture" (PDF). Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. 2009. p. Article 2.

[DiamondandBellwood2003-2] S2CID 13350469
.

[cornell2000-3] Blaine P. Friedlander Jr (June 20, 2000). "Cornell and Polish research scientists lead effort to save invaluable potato genetic archive in Russia". Retrieved March 19, 2008.

[4] ISBN 978-0521404273
.

[Corinto_2014-5] Corinto, Gian Luigi (2014). "Nikolai Vavilov's Centers of Origin of Cultivated Plants With a View to Conserving Agricultural Biodiversity". Human Evolution. 29 (4): 285–301.

[6] Adapted from Vavilov (1951) by R. W. Schery, Plants for Man, Prentice Hall, Englewood Cliffs, NJ, 1972

[7] History of Horticulture, Jules Janick, Purdue University, 2002

[Gross_Zhao_pp._6190–6197-8] PMID 24753573
.

[Purugganan-Fuller-2009-9] S2CID 205216444
.

[1]

[3]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[9]

Plants

Vavilov centers

Vavilov's scheme as updated by Schery and Janick

Purugganan and Fuller 2009 scheme

See also

References