Plant domestication: Only a few generations connect three millennia of grapevine evolution.

Genomic analysis of 28 archaeological grape pips links Iberian grapevine cultivar origins from the Iron Age to today, showing only a few generations separate some ancient and modern varieties.

• Why it matters: Domestication is often assumed to involve long, gradual change, but the timing and continuity between early introductions and present-day Iberian cultivars remain unclear.
• What they did: The study used genomic data from 28 archaeological grape pips to reconstruct how grapevines introduced into Iberia from the east mixed with local wild populations.
• The result: Eastern introductions are linked to the emergence of Iberian cultivars, including lineages that are separated from modern varieties by only a handful of generations.

AI summary of the abstract · may contain errors · not medical advice · read the paper.