Evaluating the Interesting Journey of Taro Plant Varieties to Japan Using Phylogenetic Analysis
摘要
Taro (Colocasia esculenta) is thought to be one of the first crops cultivated by humans, and was an important crop cultivated before the domestication of rice. Previous research has hypothesized that taro strains with less astringent taste profiles were selected from wild taro by humans. In this study, we evaluate the route by which taro arrived in Japan (Yaponesia). We report the results of phylogenetic analyses of taro that combine polyploid data with chloroplast, simple sequence repeat, and single nucleotide polymorphism markers. Finally, we also discuss the relation between Yaponesian and taro.