Browsing by Author "Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal"

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    Early coconut distillation and the origins of mezcal and tequila spirits in west-central Mexico
    (2008) Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal; Patricia Colunga-GarciaMarin
    No evidence exists of distillation in Mexico before European contact. The Philippine people in Colima established the practice in the 16th Century to produce coconut spirits. Botanical, toponymic, archaeological, and ethnohistoric data are presented indicating that agave distillation began in Colima, in the lower Armerı´a-Ayuquila and Coahuayana- Tuxpan river basins, using Agave angustifolia Haw. and through adaptation of the Philippine coconut spirits distillation technique. Subsequent selection and cultivation of agaves led to their domestication and diversification. This did not take place in the lower river basins, where agave populations tended to disappear. The distillation technique spread to the foothills of Colima volcanoes and from there to all of western Mexico, leading to creation of tequila and other agave spirits. Two factors aided producers in avoiding strict Colonial prohibitions and were therefore key to the diffusion and persistence of agave spirits production: (1) clandestine fermentation in sealed, underground pits carved from bedrock, a native, pre-European contact technique; and (2) small, easy-to-use Philippine-type stills that could be hidden from authorities and allowed use of a broad range of agave species.
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    Germination patterns in coconut populations (Cocos nucifera L.) in Mexico
    (1998) Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal; Jose Arellano-Morin
    Lethal yellowing disease has drastically affected the coconut populations on the east coasts of Mexico and is threatening to invade all the production areas in Mexico. For the purpose of defining the existence of genetically differentiated coconut populations that eventually could have a differential response to this disease, we studied the germination patterns in 20 representative coconut populations using 90 nuts per population in three lots under similar growing conditions. Following the emergence of the leaf through the plumuler fissure, the following were calculated weekly: (1) percent emergence of the first leaf, percent mortality between germination and emergence, and percent germination capacity; (2) time required to reach 25%, 50%, 75%, and 100% of germination; (3) mean time to complete germination, coefficient of the rate of germination, and uniformity of germination; and (4) sigmoid curve parameters of accumulative percent germination, adjusted to a model of nonlinear regression (log scale). The results showed three population groups: (a) with early and uniform germination; (b) with early and heterogeneous germination, and (c) with late and heterogeneous germination. The same population groups were previously observed using fruit morphological traits. This suggests the presence in Mexico of three tall coconut genotypes. Late and heterogeneous populations have been almost totally eliminated by the disease and some precocious populations have been shown very low levels of mortality. This suggests a correlation between precocity and resistance. The geographical distribution of the ecotypes suggest that the mortality will be deferential when the disease arrives to the other coconut producing areas in Mexico.
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    Morpho-physiological variation and phenotypic plasticity in Mexican populations of coconut (Cocos nucifera L.)
    (2001) Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal; Patricia Colunga-GarciaMarin
    We studied the pattern of variation of 19 morphological and physiological characteristics of leaves and their phenotypic plasticity in 18 Mexican coconut populations experimentally grown under similar conditions and in the presence of LY. The results showed: (a) the existence of five ecotypes differentiated by characteristic means and plasticity of these characteristics: Atlantic Tall, Pacific Tall 1, Pacific Tall 2, Pacific Tall 3 and Malayan Yellow Dwarf (MYD); (b) the characteristics that best differentiate the five ecotypes were: leaf length, number of leaves produced per unit time, and percentage of proximal rachis in leaf; (c) the ecotypes correspond with population groups previously observed in a study of morphological characterization of fruit in situ. Pacific Tall 2 and MYD exhibited high resistance to LY and valuable morphological characteristics making them useful as parents in hybridization programs.
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    Morphological Variation of Fruit in Mexican Populations of Cocos nucifera L. (Arecaceae) under in situ and ex situ Conditions
    (Springer-Verlag, 2005-06) Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal; Miguel Fernandez-Barrera; Nelson Torres-Hernandez; Patricia Colunga-GarciaMarin
    Morphological variation of the coconut fruit measured in situ has been used to estimate genetic diversity, and generate hypotheses about the evolutionary and geographical diffusion of coconut. Some authors have questioned the validity of this methodology due to the possibly high effect of the environment on the morphological characteristics of the fruit. The general aim of this study is to validate this methodology through: (1) characterizing the pattern of morphological variation of the fruit under homogeneous growing conditions ex situ; (2) comparing this pattern with those already reported in situ; (3) estimating the heritability values for the components of fruit in coconut. Results are also discussed in comparison with ex situ leaf variation and biochemical and molecular variation patterns previously studied. Principal components and discriminant analyses indicated that the characters that best differentiate groups are basically the same in situ and ex situ. Grouping patterns obtained with principal components and cluster analysis were similar for both growing conditions. They were also similar to the grouping pattern obtained with ex situ leaf characters. No significant differences were found in the variation coefficients of fruit characters between the same populations in situ and ex situ. Consistency was found between patterns of morphological variation of fruit ex situ and in situ, and those obtained using iso-enzymatic and molecular characteristics. The results are also consistent with hypotheses on the origin and diffusion of the germplasm introduced to Mexico. High values of heritability were found in nine characters. Weight and water percentage showed the highest values (0.88 and 0.883), with a strong correlation to the mass and the roundness of fruit and seed, suggesting that human selection of these characteristics led to the differentiation of domesticated populations. We conclude that morphological characterization of the coconut fruit in situ is useful to estimate its genetic variability because of its simplicity, speed and ease of application in the field and in remote areas.
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    Population Genetics, Lethal Yellowing Disease, and Relationships among Mexican and Imported Coconut Ecotypes
    (Crop Science Society of America, 2006-11-21) Daniel Zizumbo-Villarreal; Mariana Ruiz-Rodriguez; Hugh Harries; Patricia Colunga-GarciaMarin
    Lethal Yellowing (LY) is one the main diseases affecting coconut worldwide, making the research for resistant germplasm vital to production. Study objectives were to: (i) estimate diversity and genetic structure within four commercial Mexican ecotypes and five imported ecotypes; (ii) analyze the genetic relationships between Mexican ecotypes and the main coconut gene pools identified worldwide; and (iii) measure the correlation between the genetic distance among these ecotypes and Malayan Yellow Dwarf and their percentage mortality due to LY. The Mexican pool had high genetic diversity ( pl594; HT 5 0.34 6 0.02) similar to that of the populations imported from the world’s main gene pools ( pl 5 94; HT 5 0.36 6 0.01). Both molecular variance and Wright’s index of differentiation indicated strong differentiation among Mexican ecotypes (FST 5 0.32) despite significant gene flow (Nm 5 1.4 to 5.6). UPGMA analysis and exact tests of differentiation suggested that the Indo-African gene pool is found along the Caribbean and Gulf of Mexico coasts, while the Asian- Pacific pool is found on the Pacific coast. High positive correlations were found between genetic distance and LY mortality percentages under severe incidence conditions during 9- and 14-yr periods (r 2 5 0.80; P 5 0.02; r 2 5 0.78; P 5 0.04), suggesting that genetic distance may be useful for the estimation of the potential LY mortality in regions as yet unaffected and identification of potential parents for LY resistance breeding.