12-09-2017, 12:43 PM
Using a series of morphological traits and neutral molecular markers, we reevaluated the origins of the two cultivated jute species. The nine species of Corchorus, which are restricted to both Africa and Asia, were phenotyped for the yield of released fibers and quality-related traits, classified morphophenetically based on the similarities of these traits, genotyped by microsatellite and microsatellite haplotypes of chloroplast. The two cultivated jute species contain ~ 70% of the neutral genetic diversity present in their wild relatives. Phylogenetic analyzes using 38 highly polymorphic nuclear microsatellites identified C. aestuans as the common ancestor of both cultivated jute species. C. urticifolius is the nuclear progenitor of C. olitorius (dark jute), but a nearby nuclear progenitor of C. capsularis (white jute) could not be identified. Although C. aestuans or C. pseudo-olitorius or both appear to be the possible cytoplasmic progenitors of white jute, the matrilineal ancestry of dark jute remains dark. However, the presence of a single single chloroplast haplotype in each of the two cultivated species indicates the involvement of other unknown wild relatives. Taken together with archaeobotanical evidence, our results suggest that the dark jute originated in the equatorial region of East Africa, but was domesticated in India. We could not support an Indo-Myanmar origin of white jute, and possibly also originated in Africa, but it was domesticated in Asia.