Domestication Syndrome in <i>Dacryodes edulis</i> (Burseraceae): Comparison of Morphological and Biochemical Traits between Wild and Cultivated Populations
Franca Marcelle Meguem Mboujda,
Marie-Louise Avana-Tientcheu,
Stéphane Takoudjou Momo,
Alix Mboukap Ntongme,
Virginie Vaissayre,
Laura N. Azandi,
Stéphane Dussert,
Hilaire Womeni,
Jean-Michel Onana,
Bonaventure Sonké,
Christopher Tankou,
Jérôme Duminil
Affiliations
Franca Marcelle Meguem Mboujda
Research Unit of Fauna, Sylviculture of Wood Technology, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang BP: 222, Cameroon
Marie-Louise Avana-Tientcheu
Research Unit of Fauna, Sylviculture of Wood Technology, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Dschang BP: 222, Cameroon
Stéphane Takoudjou Momo
Plant Systematic and Ecology Laboratory, Higher Teacher’s Training College, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé P.O. Box 047, Cameroon
Alix Mboukap Ntongme
Research Unit of Biochemistry, Medicinal Plants, Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang BP: 67, Cameroon
Virginie Vaissayre
DIADE, IRD, University of Montpellier, CIRAD, 34394 Montpellier, France
Laura N. Azandi
Plant Systematic and Ecology Laboratory, Higher Teacher’s Training College, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé P.O. Box 047, Cameroon
Stéphane Dussert
DIADE, IRD, University of Montpellier, CIRAD, 34394 Montpellier, France
Hilaire Womeni
Research Unit of Biochemistry, Medicinal Plants, Food Science and Nutrition, Faculty of Science, University of Dschang, Dschang BP: 67, Cameroon
Jean-Michel Onana
Department of Plant Biology and Physiology, Faculty of Science, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé P.O. Box 1601, Cameroon
Bonaventure Sonké
Plant Systematic and Ecology Laboratory, Higher Teacher’s Training College, University of Yaoundé I, Yaoundé P.O. Box 047, Cameroon
Christopher Tankou
Department of Crop Sciences, Faculty of Agronomy and Agricultural Sciences, University of Dschang, Yaoundé BP: 222, Cameroon
Jérôme Duminil
DIADE, IRD, University of Montpellier, CIRAD, 34394 Montpellier, France
For millennia, people have harvested fruits from the wild for their alimentation. Gradually, they have started selecting wild individuals presenting traits of interest, protecting and cultivating them. This was the starting point of their domestication. The passage from a wild to a cultivated status is accompanied by a modification of a number of morphological and genetic traits, commonly known as the domestication syndrome. We studied the domestication syndrome in Dacryodes edulis (G.Don) H.J.Lam (known as ‘African plum’ or ‘safoutier/prunier’), a socio-economically important indigenous fruit tree species in West and Central Africa. We compared wild and cultivated individuals for their sex distribution; flower, fruit and seed morphometric characteristics; seed germination temporal dynamic and fruit lipid composition. We found a higher percentage of male and male-hermaphrodite sexual types in wild populations than in cultivated ones; a lower fruit and seed mass in wild individuals; and similar mean time of germination, oil content and fatty acid composition between wild and cultivated individuals. Our results are interpreted in light of the presence of a domestication syndrome in D. edulis.
