Use-wear Traces and Plant Micro-remain Analysis Reveal the Function of Perforated Shells From the Xianrendong and Diaotonghuan Sites in the Middle Reaches of the Yangtze River, China

Shell remains are common cultural relics recovered from the late Paleolithic to the historical-age sites in China. Archaeological evidence shows that the number of perforated shells gradually increased at the transition from the Paleolithic to Neolithic age, a time period that coincides with the beginning of farming activities. Usage traces and plant residues from prehistoric perforated shells are often used to interpret tool function. In this study, we analyzed use-wear traces and recovered ancient starches and phytoliths from both the used edges and unused backs of twelve perforated shells from the Xianrendong and Diaotonghuan sites (30,000–12,000 cal. Y BP). These sites are well-known for the earliest pottery and the earliest cultivated rice micro-remains in the world. We found that: (1) all the twelve shells had scars and use wear, and the use traces occurred on the used edges; (2) an assemblage of 83 identifiable starch grains were recovered from the twelve perforated shells, including remains of acorns, Panicoideae and the tribe Triticeae, tubers and roots; (3) only six phytoliths from the stems and leaves of grass taxa including Panicoideae and Bambusoideae were recovered from four shells. The meta-analysis of the use-wear and plant micro-remain analysis indicate that the functions of perforated shells were nearly identical from the late Paleolithic to early Neolithic periods. These functions include processing, harvesting or cutting grasses from the Panicoideae, Bambusoideae, and the tribe Triticeae, processing acorns or/and their starchy products, and digging and scraping tubers and roots. The digging and scraping of tubers and roots increased in intensity with the increase in rice cultivation during the period between 20,000 and 12,000 cal. Y BP.

SPInDel Analysis of the Non-Coding Regions of cpDNA as a More Useful Tool for the Identification of Rye (Poaceae: Secale) Species

Secale is a small but very diverse genus from the tribe Triticeae (family Poaceae), which includes annual, perennial, self-pollinating and open-pollinating, cultivated, weedy and wild species of various phenotypes. Despite its high economic importance, classification of this genus, comprising 3–8 species, is inconsistent. This has resulted in significantly reduced progress in the breeding of rye which could be enriched with functional traits derived from wild rye species. Our previous research has suggested the utility of non-coding sequences of chloroplast and mitochondrial DNA in studies on closely related species of the genus Secale. Here we applied the SPInDel (Species Identification by Insertions/Deletions) approach, which targets hypervariable genomic regions containing multiple insertions/deletions (indels) and exhibiting extensive length variability. We analysed a total of 140 and 210 non-coding sequences from cpDNA and mtDNA, respectively. The resulting data highlight regions which may represent useful molecular markers with respect to closely related species of the genus Secale, however, we found the chloroplast genome to be more informative. These molecular markers include non-coding regions of chloroplast DNA: atpB-rbcL and trnT-trnL and non-coding regions of mitochondrial DNA: nad1B-nad1C and rrn5/rrn18. Our results demonstrate the utility of the SPInDel concept for the characterisation of Secale species.

Peculiarities of forming weed consortia parameters depending on species genotype and composition of representatives of the tribe Triticeae under the ecotone Polissia-Forest-Steppe

The peculiarities of consortia weeds parameters formation depending on the genotype and species composition of perspective ecological and adaptive members of the tribe Triticeae were considered under ecotone Polissia-Forest-Steppe. It was found that un- der the conditions of Polissia-Forest-Steppe ecotone coenotic composition phytocenoses tribe Triticeae is presented by mainly terophytes, less –gemikriptophytes, kriptophytes and geophytes. It is shown that in the conditions of Forest-Steppe Polissia dominant associations weeds in crops of short stature and semi-dwarf varieties of tribe Triticeae are six dominant species communities: Viola-Capsella, Matricaria-Galium, Elytrigia-Galeopsis, Chenopodiu-Sonchus, Thlaspi-Euphоrbiа; and among tall and medium growing crops there are four of them: Cirsium-Convolvulus, Apera-Galeopsis, Elytrigia-Linaria, Galeopsis-Galium. Medium-grown, intermediate varieties and lines of wheat (Zoriana Nosivska, Zirka Nosivska, Л 4639/ 96), rye (Olympiada 80), a three-species triticale (ПС_1-12, ПС_2-12, Vivate Nosivske, УП_1-12) are the most competitive to the development of segetal vegetation compared to other medium-grown and semi-dwarf varieties of such crops as КС 5, КС 1, КС 14 (wheat), Chaian, ДАУ 5, Д-5_2010 (Triticale), Borotba (rye).