Evidence of a strong domestication bottleneck in the recently cultivated New Zealand endemic root crop, Arthropodium cirratum (Asparagaceae)

Uses chloroplast DNA sequencing to examine the extent of the domestication bottleneck and other genetic aspects of the pre-European Māori cultivation of an endemic NZ root crop, Arthropodium cirratum (rengarenga). Looks at the diversity at four chloroplast loci for A. cirratum in its natural and translocated range to address the chloroplast diversity and structuring in the natural populations of A. cirratum, how many times A. cirratum was independently brought into cultivation and how much genetic diversity has been retained in the translocated sites, where the locations of the initial source populations are, and what the relationships among translocated plants are and whether these reflect Māori settlement routes and mobility. Source: National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Matauranga o Aotearoa, licensed by the Department of Internal Affairs for re-use under the Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 New Zealand Licence.