Question

Your Crop Domestication - Tea

Your goal is to explain the history of your plant's domestication by humans (specific questions to address below). Using your book and any other reputable sources (Links to an external site.)Links to an external site.,

Questions to Address:

1. Where did the wild type ancestor of your crop originate?

2. Where did crop domestication first take place? Note: This may or may not be the same place as #1.

3. How do the wild type ancestor plant and the modern plant differ from one another? Specific trait(s)!

4. How, where, and when did the domesticated plant travel from its original domestication place?

Answer 1

1. The wild type ancestors were native to Yunnan province in southwest China.

2.China and India are known to be the largest tea producing countries and recognized as the centers for the domestication of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis(L.) O. Kuntze). However, molecular studies on the origin, domestication and relationships of the main teas, China type, Assam type and Cambod type are lacking.

3. The wild type is native to Yunnan and grows to be about 2 m in height and has dark colored leaves which feel almost leathery. Its buds have a brownish hue while the larger leaves tend to be mildly serrated.

Wheras the moden tea plant is a small tree, which grows to be about 10-13 meters in height. Its leaves are thin, bright, and tend to have a tapering apex.

4.

It was demonstrate that Chinese Assam tea is a distinct genetic lineage from Indian Assam tea, and that China tea sampled from India was likely introduced from China directly. Our results further indicate that China type tea, Chinese Assam type tea and Indian Assam type tea are likely the result of three independent domestication events from three separate regions across China and India. Our findings have important implications for the conservation of genetic stocks, as well as future breeding programs.