The study of origin and domestication of legumes described in this book
emerged when it became apparent that while this kind of information is
adequate for cereals, the pulses lagged behind. At the end of the 1960s
the senior author initiated a study on the chickpea's wild relatives
followed by similar attempts for broad bean, fenugreek, common vetch,
bitter vetch, and lentil. The junior author joined the project in the
late 1980s with a study of the genetics of interspecific hybrid embryo
abortion in lentil and later has extensively investigated chickpea
domestication and wild peas. While this book mainly describes our
research findings, pertinent results obtained by others are also
discussed and evaluated. Studying the wild relatives of legumes included
evaluation of their taxonomic status, their morphological variation,
ecological requirements, exploration of their distribution, and seed
collection in their natural habitats. Seeds were examined for their
protein profile as preliminary hints of their affinity to the cultigens
and plants grown from these seeds were used for establishing their
karyotype, producing intra- and interspecific hybrids and analyses of
their chromosome pairing at meiosis and fertility. The aim of these
investigations was the identification of the potential wild gene pool of
the domesticated forms. Assessment of genetic variation among
accessions, particularly in the genus Lens, was made by isozymes and
chloroplast DNA studies. The main findings include the discovery of the
chickpea wild progenitor; studies of lentil in three crossability
groups; wild peas proceeded in two lines of study; faba bean and
fenugreek and their wild progenitors have not yet been identified;
common vetch and its related form were treated here as an aggregate (A.
sativa); we found gene flow between members of different karyotypes is
possible; bitter vetch and its relation to the domesticated form were
established by breeding experiments.
