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.<ref>lectotype designated by Hammer, Feddes Repert. 91: 225-228 (1980)</ref><ref name=w>[http://www.tropicos.org/Name/40033200 Tropicos, ''Aegilops'' L.]</ref> |synonyms_ref = <ref name=w/><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 }}</ref> |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.<ref>[https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/359071#page/492/mode/1up Linnaeus, Carl von 1753. Species Plantarum 2: 1050-1051] in Latin</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://luirig.altervista.org/flora/taxa/floraspecie.php?genere=Aegilops|title=Genere Aegilops - Flora Italiana|work=altervista.org}}</ref><ref>[http://www.efloras.org/florataxon.aspx?flora_id=2&taxon_id=100654 Flora of China Vol. 22 Page 444 <big>山羊草属</big> shan yang cao shu ''Aegilops'' Linnaeus, Sp. Pl. 2: 1050. 1753. ]</ref> They are known generally as '''goatgrasses'''.<ref name=itis>[https://www.itis.gov/servlet/SingleRpt/SingleRpt?search_topic=TSN&search_value=182534 ''Aegilops''.] Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS).</ref> Some species are known as invasive weeds in parts of North America.<ref name=delta>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.</ref><ref>{{BONAP|ref|genus=Aegilops}}</ref><ref>[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.</ref>

==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.<ref name=delta/><ref name=jeps>[http://ucjeps.berkeley.edu/cgi-bin/get_IJM.pl?tid=10107 ''Aegilops''.] The Jepson eFlora 2013.</ref><ref name=usu>[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.</ref><ref>[http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db/www/gen00007.htm ''Aegilops''.] GrassBase. Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Version 16 November 2012.</ref>

== Origin of wheat ==

[[File:Polyploid wheat origins.svg|thumb|center|upright=2.5|''Aegilops'' species are ancestors of emmer and bread wheat.<ref name="Golovnina-2007"/>]]

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.<ref name="Golovnina-2007">{{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 }}</ref><ref>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.</ref><ref name=pete>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.</ref> ''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.<ref name=usu/> ''Aegilops'' is sometimes treated within ''Triticum''. They are maintained as separate genera by most authorities because of their ecological characteristics,<ref name=usu/> and because when united they do not form a monophyletic group (the lowest common class will need to include some other genera).<ref name=pete/><ref>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.</ref>

==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.<ref>[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).</ref>

== 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.<ref>Thomson, Peter (2010). ''Seeds, sex, and civilization: How the hidden life of plants has shaped our world.'' Thames and Hudson. 12,13.</ref>

== Etymology ==

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".<ref name=delta/> 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.<ref>{{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}}</ref>

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.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.snapple.com/real-facts/1396|title=Real Facts {{!}} Snapple|website=Snapple|access-date=2018-06-23}}</ref><ref>[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.</ref>

==Species== [[File:Aegilops tauschii 04363.jpg|thumb|''Aegilops tauschii'']] ; Accepted species<ref name=itis/><ref>[http://www.theplantlist.org/browse/A/Poaceae/Aegilops/ ''Aegilops''.] The Plant List.</ref><ref name=delta/><ref name=jeps/><ref name=usu/> * ''Aegilops bicornis'' - Egypt, Libya, Cyprus, Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Sinai, Jordan, Israel Kuwait * ''Aegilops biuncialis'' - Mediterranean Basin, Rumenia, Ukraine, Caucasus<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.kew.org/data/grasses-db/www/imp00034.htm|title=RBG Kew: GrassBase - Aegilops biuncialis Description|publisher=kew.org}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://npgsweb.ars-grin.gov/gringlobal/taxonomydetail.aspx?id=1525|title=Taxonomy - GRIN-Global Web v 1.9.8.2}}</ref> * ''Aegilops caudata'' - Balkans, Middle East * ''Aegilops columnaris'' - Middle East * ''Aegilops comosa'' - Greece, Turkey * ''Aegilops crassa'' – Persian goatgrass - Middle East to Central Asia * ''Aegilops cylindrica'' – jointed goatgrass - from Czech Republic to Pakistan * ''Aegilops geniculata'' - from Portugal + Canary Islands to Iran * ''Aegilops × insulae-cypri'' - Cyprus * ''Aegilops juvenalis'' - from Turkey to Kazakhstan * ''Aegilops kotschyi'' – ovate goatgrass - from Tunisia to Uzbekistan * ''Aegilops longissima'' - Middle East, Egypt * ''Aegilops lorentii'' - from Spain + Cape Verde to Iran * ''Aegilops mutica'' - Turkey, Transcaucasus * ''Aegilops neglecta'' – three-awned goatgrass - from Portugal + Canary Islands to Kazakhstan * ''Aegilops peregrina'' - from Morocco to Iran * ''Aegilops searsii'' - Syria, Jordan * ''Aegilops sharonensis'' - Israel * ''Aegilops speltoides'' - from Greece to Iran * ''Aegilops tauschii'' - from Crimea to Henan * ''Aegilops triuncialis'' – barbed goatgrass - from Portugal + Morocco to Kazakhstan * ''Aegilops umbellulata'' - from Crimea to Iran * ''Aegilops uniaristata'' - Italy, Balkans, Turkey, Caucasus * ''Aegilops vavilovii'' - from Caucasus to Saudi Arabia * ''Aegilops ventricosa'' - from Morocco + Balearic Islands to Caucasus

; 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'' {{Columns-list|colwidth=30em| * ''Aegilops aromatica - Ctenium aromaticum'' * ''Aegilops ciliaris - Eremochloa pectinata'' * ''Aegilops crithodium - Triticum monococcum'' subsp. ''aegilopoides'' * ''Aegilops exaltata - Ophiuros exaltatus'' * ''Aegilops fluviatilis - Rottboellia cochinchinensis'' * ''Aegilops hordeiformis - Triticum monococcum'' subsp. ''monococcum'' * ''Aegilops hystrix - Elymus elymoides'' * ''Aegilops incurva - Parapholis incurva'' * ''Aegilops muricata - Eremochloa muricata'' * ''Aegilops saccharina - Dactyloctenium aegyptium'' }}

==See also== * List of Poaceae genera

==References== {{Reflist|2}}

==External links== {{Commons category-inline}}

Category:Aegilops Category:Poaceae genera