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c0nc0rdance

Global production of watermelon is between 100-200 million tons/year. This red sweet treat has very deep roots, but it's unclear when it was domesticated to the form we know. A new clue comes from an unlikely place: a 3500 year old Egyptian mummy, combined with some very lucky DNA sequencing.🍉🧪

Cute Cat Eating WatermelonAlt: Cute Cat Eating Watermelon. It's a viral meme, so I don't know the attribution, but a grey tabby cat with a nice round face take big chomps out of a red watermelon held in a human hand. Cats can't sense the sugar, but may enjoy the water and texture, but should get only a tiny amount to avoid stomach upset.static.klipy.com
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4 прямых ответов · 13 сообщений

S
Someone

Genetics aside, we also have visual proof of the effects of selective breeding in the last 400 years.

c0nc0rdance

Watermelon (Citrullus lanatus) has many extant relatives, but they're all bitter, with no red flesh. We know the Egyptians prized them because of depictions in at least 3 tombs. One tomb, at Deir el Bahari, near Luxor, contained a mummy in a re-used sarcophagus, wrapped in unknown leaves.

Ответ для c0nc0rdance
c0nc0rdance

DNA Sequencing of these 3500 yr old leaves produced only fragments, typical for ancient plant material, but some very fortunate 'hits'. Specifically, we know this plant had a mutation that disabled its ability to break down 'lycopene', the red pigment found in tomatoes & modern watermelon.

Ответ для c0nc0rdance
c0nc0rdance

So the red pigment accumulated. But the researchers at Univ of Munich also found a disabling mutation in the gene for an enzyme that makes bitter 'cucurbitacins' chemicals. This was a sweet, red watermelon. And from tomb depictions, it was about the same size & shape as a modern one.

Ответ для c0nc0rdance
c0nc0rdance

So we know that bitter, white-fleshed melons grown 5000 years ago in the Kordofan region of Sudan are the nearest cousins of modern watermelons. And we know that Ancient Egyptian were enjoying red-fleshed, sweet melons 3500 years ago. Sounds like an approximate date & location for domestication!

Ответ для c0nc0rdance
c0nc0rdance

Today is National Watermelon Day 🍉, so if you happen to enjoy this strange fruit that is technically a berry with a hard rind, botanically a 'pepo', you'll be sharing in an experience enjoyed by ancient Egyptians. If you don't like the taste, there are other way to enjoy them. (📷: Slow-Mo Guys)

Ответ для c0nc0rdance
c0nc0rdance

The free, full-text pre-print paper is on bioRxiv, click on "Download PDF" to view the pre-print: www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...

A 3500-year-old leaf from a Pharaonic tomb reveals that New Kingdom Egyptians were cultivating domesticated watermelonDomestication of the watermelon ( Citrullus lanatus ) has alternatively been placed in South Africa, the Nile valley, or more recently West Africa, with the oldest archeological evidence coming from L...www.biorxiv.org
Ответ для c0nc0rdance
Jennifer Mach (she/they)

Tagging for the #PlantScience feed

Ответ для c0nc0rdance
vrboombatzmdphd

An entire thread on watermelon without a Gallagher clip?!

Anubis2814

@c0nc0rdance From what we can tell, they probably didn't taste sweet at all for the ancient peoples, but they were used as water sources for traveling in the desert.

imjusthatter

Cats cannot taste sweet. I wonder what it tastes like to them... 🤔

Ответ для imjusthatter
Sun Dog

Crunchy water 😀