Dussert, Yann ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1900-7715, Borrell, James S., Stocks, Jonathan, Hunt, Harriet V. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0075-6660, White, Oliver W. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6444-0310, Wilkin, Paul, Buggs, Richard, Büchi, Lucie ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1935-6176, Demissew, Sebsebe ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0123-9596, Woldeyes, Feleke, Leitch, Ilia J., Abebe, Wendawek M., Nichols, Richard A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4801-9312 and Choi, Jae Young (2026) Recurrent evolution of cryptic triploids in cultivated enset increases yield. PLOS Genetics, 22 (7):e1012241. ISSN 1553-7390 (Print), 1553-7404 (Online) (doi:10.1371/journal.pgen.1012241)

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Abstract

The high incidence of polyploidy in crops could be explained if domestication involved the selection of polyploids (cytotypes with more than two sets of chromosomes). Ancestral horticulture could have targeted desirable traits including yield, robustness to stress or disease, rather than requiring knowledge of polyploidy itself. We find evidence for this process underway in enset ( Ensete ventricosum , Musaceae), a highly resilient crop constituting the main staple for over 20 million people in Ethiopia, which is clonally propagated and cultivated for its starch-rich corm and pseudostem. Prior to this study, enset was thought to be exclusively diploid (2n = 2x = 18). Using a newly-assembled chromosome-scale reference genome and sequence data from 723 wild and domesticated enset individuals from southwestern Ethiopia, we demonstrate that around 20% of cultivated enset clones are triploid. We show that triploidy has arisen multiple times independently, that the triploid lineages have been given distinct landrace names, and planted disproportionately frequently. Enset triploid clones also have a higher pseudostem volume than diploids on average. As well as providing evidence for enduring selection on triploids, our results reveal valuable genetic diversity captured by these triploid lines. They represent key resources for scientifically directed breeding of this major crop in the Ethiopian agrosystem, and could improve food security in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information:	We thank the numerous farmers, agricultural extension agents and drivers who generously facilitated our fieldwork. We also thank Romain Pigeault for his help with the mixed-effects model analysis. Finally, we thank four anonymous reviewers for their suggestions which improved this manuscript. This research utilised Queen Mary’s Apocrita HPC facility, supported by QMUL Research-IT (http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.438045).
Uncontrolled Keywords:	triploidy, polyploidy, Ethiopian agrosystem
Subjects:	Q Science > Q Science (General) Q Science > QH Natural history > QH426 Genetics S Agriculture > S Agriculture (General)
Faculty / School / Research Centre / Research Group:	Faculty of Engineering & Science Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Centre for Sustainable Agriculture 4 One Health Faculty of Engineering & Science > Natural Resources Institute > Centre for Sustainable Agriculture 4 One Health > Ecosystems Services
Last Modified:	04 Sep 2026 11:21
URI:	https://gala.gre.ac.uk/id/eprint/54342

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