Biology subjects

Battesti, V.

Publications and source records attributed to Battesti, V..

3 recordsLinked to original sources

bioRxiv2025

Foundational genomic resources for date palm: A gap-free, telomere-to-telomere phased assembly of Ajwa and 19 high-quality genome assemblies of Phoenix dactylifera.

Phoenix dactylifera L. is an economically, nutritionally, and culturally important fruit crop in the arid and semi-arid regions of the Middle East and North Africa. Here, we present a gap-free, telomere-to-telomere reference genome of the variety Ajwa, along with 19 additional high-quality assemblies (18 female and 1 male). These assemblies reveal novel chromosomal structures validated through cytogenetics, Hi-C, optical mapping, and synteny analyses with other palm genomes. Chromosome names were revised based on average lengths across all sequenced genomes. The Sex Determination Region (SDR) on chromosome 14 was confirmed through male-specific k-mer analysis, spanning approximately 14.7 Mb. Nucleolar organizing regions (NORs) were localized on chromosome 10, where a large 45S rDNA locus displayed unique repeat spacer motifs containing transposon-like sequences. In some accessions, a second NOR was identified on the female sex chromosome. This collection of date palm assemblies, anchored by the Ajwa reference genome, provides a critical resource for advancing breeding strategies aimed at enhancing the genetic resilience and productivity of date palm.

genomics↗

bioRxiv2019

Integration of ethnobotany and population genetics uncovers the agrobiodiversity of date palms of Siwa Oasis (Egypt) and their importance to the evolutionary history of the species

Crop diversity is shaped by biological and social processes interacting at different spatiotemporal scales. Here we combined population genetics and ethnobotany to investigate date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) diversity in Siwa Oasis, Egypt. Based on interviews with farmers and observation of practices in the field, we collected 149 date palms from Siwa Oasis and 27 uncultivated date palms from abandoned oases in the surrounding desert. Using genotyping data from 18 nuclear and plastid microsatellite loci, we confirmed that some named types each constitute a clonal line, i.e. a true-to-type cultivar. We also found that others are collections of clonal lines, i.e. ethnovarieties, or even unrelated samples, i.e. local categories. This alters current assessments of agrobiodiversity, which are visibly underestimated, and uncovers the impact of low-intensity, but highly effective, farming practices on biodiversity. These hardly observable practices, hypothesized by ethnographic survey and confirmed by genetic analysis, are enabled by the way Isiwans conceive and classify living beings in their oasis, which do not quite match the way biologists do: a classic disparity of etic vs. emic categorizations. In addition, we established that Siwa date palms represent a unique and highly diverse genetic cluster, rather than a subset of North African and Middle Eastern palm diversity. As previously shown, North African date palms display evidence of introgression by the wild relative Phoenix theophrasti, and we found that the uncultivated date palms from the abandoned oases share even more alleles with this species than cultivated palms in this region. The study of Siwa date palms could hence be a key to the understanding of date palm diversification in North Africa. Integration of ethnography and population genetics promoted the understanding of the interplay between diversity management in the oasis (short-time scale), and the origins and dynamic of diversity through domestication and diversification (long-time scale).

evolutionary biology↗

bioRxiv2017

The Date Palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.) In Siwa Oasis (Egypt): How Ethnographic, Morphometric, And Genetic Analyses Together Explain The Local Agrobiodiversity

The agrobiodiversity of the Siwa oasis (in Egypt), located at the crossroads of ancient Trans-Saharan routes, is evaluated in this article focusing on the date palm (Phoenix dactylifera L.), the oasis \"ecosystem engineer\". This assessment confronts different ontologies: diversity as expressed and maintained by the folk categorization system of the Siwa inhabitants (through the results of an ethnographical analysis) and diversity described by genetic sciences and a morphometric tool based on the size and geometry of the seeds. This work is also an opportunity to evaluate this tool intended for archaeobotany. Beyond a simple instrumentalization of one discipline by another, this study offers a space of mutual enrichment: on the relative importance of the feral and cultivated date palms, the local relevance of the concept of \"cultivar\" and the confirmation of the existence of \"ethnovarieties\".

plant biology↗