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aegilops

{{Short description|Genus of grasses}}

{{Automatic taxobox

|name = Goatgrasses

|image = Aegilops_geniculata_Enfoque_2010-5-08_DehesaBoyaldePuertollano.jpg

|image_caption = Aegilops geniculata

|display_parents = 3

|taxon = Aegilops

|authority = L.

|type_species = Aegilops triuncialis

|type_species_authority = L.lectotype designated by Hammer, Feddes Repert. 91: 225-228 (1980)[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40033200 Tropicos, Aegilops L.]

|synonyms_ref = {{cite web|url=http://apps.kew.org/wcsp/namedetail.do?name_id=450699|title=World Checklist of Selected Plant Families: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew|work=kew.org}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

|synonyms =

  • Triticum sect. Aegilops (L.) Godr. & Gren.
  • Triticum subg. Aegilops (L.) C. Yen & J.L. Yang
  • Triticum subg. Aegilops (L.) Schmalh.
  • Amblyopyrum Eig
  • Aegilemma Á.Löve
  • Aegilonearum Á.Löve
  • Aegilopodes Á.Löve
  • Chennapyrum Á.Löve
  • Comopyrum (Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve
  • Cylindropyrum (Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve
  • Gastropyrum (Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve
  • Kiharapyrum Á.Löve
  • Orrhopygium Á.Löve
  • Patropyrum Á.Löve
  • Perlaria Heist. ex Fabr.
  • Sitopsis (Jaub. & Spach) Á.Löve

}}

Aegilops is a genus of Eurasian and North American plants in the grass family, Poaceae.[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/359071#page/492/mode/1up Linnaeus, Carl von 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1050-1051] in Latin{{cite web|url=http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/floraspecie.php?genere=Aegilops|title=Genere Aegilops - Flora Italiana|work=altervista.org}}[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=100654 Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 444 山羊草属 shan yang cao shu Aegilops Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1050. 1753. ] They are known generally as goatgrasses.[https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=182534 Aegilops.] Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS). Some species are known as invasive weeds in parts of North America.Watson, L. and M. J. Dallwitz. 1992 onwards. [http://delta-intkey.com/grass/www/aegilops.htm Aegilops.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081010151058/http://delta-intkey.com/grass/www/aegilops.htm |date=October 10, 2008 }} The Grass Genera of the World. Version: 18 December 2012.{{BONAP|ref|genus=Aegilops}}[http://www.k-state.edu/wgrc/Taxonomy/taxaeg.html Aegilops classification systems.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022234758/http://www.k-state.edu/wgrc/Taxonomy/taxaeg.html |date=2013-10-22 }} Wheat Genetic and Genomics Resource Center. Kansas State University.

Description

These are annual plants, sometimes from rhizomes. The taller species reach about 80 centimeters in maximum height. The flat leaves are linear to narrowly lance-shaped, and are up to 15 centimeters long and one wide. The inflorescence is a spike with 2 to 12 solitary spikelets each up to 1.2 centimeters long. Some spikelets have one or three awns, and some have none.[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=10107 Aegilops.] The Jepson eFlora 2013.[http://herbarium.usu.edu/triticeae/Genera/Aegilops.htm Aegilops.] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131022202746/http://herbarium.usu.edu/triticeae/Genera/Aegilops.htm |date=October 22, 2013 }} Triticeae Genus Fact Sheets. Intermountain Herbarium. Utah State University.[http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db/www/gen00007.htm Aegilops.] GrassBase. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Version 16 November 2012.

Origin of wheat

File:Polyploid wheat origins.svg and bread wheat.]]

Genus Aegilops has played an important role in the taxonomy of wheat. The familiar common wheat (Triticum aestivum) arose when cultivated emmer wheat hybridized with Aegilops tauschii about 8,000 years ago.{{cite journal |last1=Golovnina |first1=K. A. |last2=Glushkov |first2=S. A. |last3=Blinov |first3=A. G. |last4=Mayorov |first4=V. I. |last5=Adkison |first5=L. R. |last6=Goncharov |first6=N. P. |title=Molecular phylogeny of the genus Triticum L |journal=Plant Systematics and Evolution |volume=264 |issue=3–4 |date=2007-02-12 |doi=10.1007/s00606-006-0478-x |pages=195–216|bibcode=2007PSyEv.264..195G |s2cid=39102602 }}Jia, J., et al. (2013). [http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v496/n7443/full/nature12028.html Aegilops tauschii draft genome sequence reveals a gene repertoire for wheat adaptation.] Nature 496, 91–95.Petersen, G., et al. (2006). [http://www.botany.wisc.edu/courses/botany_940/06CropEvol/papers/Petersen%2606.pdf Phylogenetic relationships of Triticum and Aegilops and evidence for the origin of the A, B, and D genomes of common wheat (Triticum aestivum).] Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution 39(1), 70–82. Aegilops and Triticum are genetically similar, as evidenced by their ability to hybridize, and by the presence of Aegilops in the evolutionary heritage of many Triticum taxa. Aegilops is sometimes treated within Triticum. They are maintained as separate genera by most authorities because of their ecological characteristics, and because when united they do not form a monophyletic group (the lowest common class will need to include some other genera).Yamane, K. and T. Kawahara. (2005). [https://archive.today/20131021091432/http://www.amjbot.org/content/92/11/1887.long Intra- and interspecific phylogenetic relationships among diploid Triticum-Aegilops species (Poaceae) based on base-pair substitutions, indels, and microsatellites in chloroplast noncoding sequences.] American Journal of Botany 92(11), 1887-98.

Ecology

Some Aegilops are known as weeds. A. cylindrica, which is commonly known as jointed goatgrass, infests wheat fields, where it outcompetes wheat plants, reducing yields. Its seeds mix with wheat grains at harvest, lowering the quality of the crop. It can also harbor pests such as the Russian wheat aphid (Diuraphis noxia) and pathogenic fungi. Other Aegilops are weeds of rangeland and wildland habitat.[https://archive.today/20131021091508/http://www.cdfa.ca.gov/plant/ipc/weedinfo/aegilops.htm Aegilops.] Encycloweedia Data Sheets. California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA).

Prehistoric wild food source

During the Mesolithic era, nomadic peoples found goatgrasses (Aegilops) growing wild, along with wild wheats and barleys, and harvested them using bone sickles inset with sharp flakes of flint. The harvested plants were left to dry for a few days, then the edible grains were separated out from the rest of the plant material by beating the plants with a wooden flail, or by rolling them against a hard surface. The seeds were then carefully singed in the embers of a fire to burn away the remaining non-edible plant material. Some grains were accidentally burnt, and since the charred grains do not biodegrade some have been found by modern archeologists.Thomson, Peter (2010). Seeds, sex, and civilization: How the hidden life of plants has shaped our world. Thames and Hudson. 12,13.

Etymology

{{wikt|aegilops|Aegilops}}

The genus name Aegilops is botanical Latin and comes from the Ancient Greek {{wikt-lang|grc|αἰγίλωψ}} ({{transliteration|grc|aigílōps}}), which is of uncertain origin. If the word is from {{wikt-lang|grc|αἴγιλος}} ({{transliteration|grc|aígilos}}, “goat”) + {{wikt-lang|grc|-ωψ}} ({{transliteration|grc|-ōps}}, "eye; looking like"), it could mean "goatlike herb", "a herb liked by goats", or perhaps "a grass similar to that liked by goats". On the other hand, it also referred to some species of oak, and since it resembles the Proto-Indo-European word for "oak", {{wikt-lang|ine-pro|*h₂eyǵ-|id=oak}}, this could be the source instead. In any case, it may be from the Pre-Greek substratum language.{{cite book |first=Robert S. P. |last=Beekes |authorlink=Robert S. P. Beekes |year=2010 |title=Etymological Dictionary of Greek |location=Leiden, Boston |publisher=Brill|series=Leiden Indo-European Etymological Dictionary Series |others=with the assistance of Lucien van Beek |isbn=9789004174207 |entry=αἰγίλωψ, -ωπος |page=32}}

The word {{wikt-lang|en|aegilops}} is claimed to be the longest word in the English language to have all of its letters in alphabetical order, and with no letters repeated.{{Cite web|url=https://www.snapple.com/real-facts/1396|title=Real Facts {{!}} Snapple|website=Snapple|access-date=2018-06-23}}[http://www.guinnessworldrecords.com/records-2000/longest-english-word-with-letters-arranged-in-alphabetical-order/ Longest English word with letters arranged in alphabetical order.] Guinness World Records.

Species

File:Aegilops tauschii 04363.jpg]]

; Accepted species[http://www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Poaceae/Aegilops/ Aegilops.] The Plant List.

; Formerly included species

Species once regarded as members of Aegilops but now considered better suited to other genera: Ctenium, Dactyloctenium, Elymus, Eremochloa, Ophiuros, Parapholis, Rottboellia, and Triticum

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See also

References

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External links

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Category:Poaceae genera