Schriften zu Genetischen Ressourcen - Genres

A.A. FILATENKO, K. PISTRICK, H. KNÜPFFER and K. HAMMER
In the literature devoted to the origin of domesticated plants, references to
SINSKAYA’S book “Historical geography of the cultivated flora (at the dawn of agriculture)”
(SINSKAYA 1969) are rarely found. Its first version was completed in 1952 and
handed over to ZHUKOVSKY for review. However, the book was not published until
1969.
Some subsequent publications show a misunderstanding of her valuable contribution
to this field, principal reasons being the limited circulation of her book, and the linguistic
barrier. SINSKAYA’S work is an organic continuation of VAVILOV’s studies.
VAVILOV developed his theory and constantly improved its methodology and terminology.
Alongside the term “centre”, he always used the concept of “area” of origin.
SINSKAYA preferred this latter term, which emphasised VAVILOV’s concept of the polycentric
nature of the origins of agriculture. She formalised VAVILOV’s method of definition
of the centres to permit their more accurate characterisation as areas of origin of
domesticated plants, and to reveal their influence on the development of agriculture
worldwide.
The English terminology used in this paper intends to reflect the original Russian
terminology used by SINSKAYA.
Methods for determining the centres of type-formation of cultivated plants
To establish centres of type-formation (or centres of diversity), the “differential phytogeographical
method” (VAVILOV 1935) was employed. It includes the following steps:
1. Strict differentiation of the plants studied into Linnaean species and infraspecific
groups by all available means of various disciplines, such as morphology, agrobotany,
phytopathology, cytology.
2. Delimitation of the present distribution areas of these plants and also, if possible,
their distribution in the remote past, when communication and seed exchange
were more difficult.
3. Determination of the varietal composition of each species (i.e., their botanical varieties,
based on morphological characters), and of the general system of genetic
diversity within each species.
4. Establishment of the distribution of the genetic diversity of the forms of a given
species by regions and areas, and of the geographical centres where these varieties
are now accumulated. Regions of maximum diversity, usually also including a
number of endemic varietal types and characteristics, can also be centres of typeformation.
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