摘要：一种观点认为，今天人们食用的许多种香蕉的第一阶段驯化可能发生在新几内亚。Tim Denham及其同事把遗传学数据、考古学数据和语言学数据结合起来，从而追踪芭蕉科香蕉（包括大蕉和超市出售的典型黄香蕉）的驯化与传播。这组作者的遗传分析显示，在东南亚和西美拉尼西亚附近的这些岛屿上的香蕉杂交形成了没有人工干预就无法形成的亚种，其中一些杂交品种随后可能与其它亚种结合，形成了适宜农业种植的不育品种。为了追踪这些新近出现的香蕉（或者说栽培品种）的传播，这组作者评估了新几内亚和喀麦隆的考古遗址的香蕉种子和叶片的显微残骸，结果发现了香蕉栽培的证据。然后他们把遗传学数据、考古学数据和语言学信息结合起来，从而发现特定品种的传播。引入的栽培品种常常保存了全部或部分的用于描述其此前来源地的名字，因此这组作者研究了东南亚和美拉尼西亚的1100种香蕉的名字。他们分离出了4个关键的同源词（语言学的词源），其中每一个都提示了一种不同的传播路径。这组作者提出，香蕉仍然是全世界的一种主要农作物，追踪它们的驯化路径可能有助于今天的农民培育出更有适应性的农作物。
芭蕉科香蕉
生物探索推荐英文原文：
Bananas' road to domestication
The first stages in the domestication of many bananas consumed today likely occurred in New Guinea, according to a perspective. Tim Denham and colleagues combined genetic, archaeological, and linguistic data to trace the domestication and spread of bananas in the Musa family, which includes plantains and the classic yellow bananas found in supermarkets. The authors' genetic analysis showed that bananas in the islands around Southeast Asia and western Melanesia hybridized into subspecies that could not have formed without human intervention. Some of those hybrids then likely paired with other subspecies to create sterile varieties ideal for farming. To trace the spread of those newly emerged bananas, or cultivars, the authors evaluated the microscopic remains of banana seeds and leaves at archaeological sites in New Guinea and Cameroon and found evidence for banana cultivation. They then paired the genetic and archaeological data with linguistic information to identify the spread of specific varieties. Introduced cultivars often retain all or parts of the word used to identify them from the previous locale, so the authors looked at 1,100 banana descriptors in Southeast Asia and Melanesia. They isolated four key cognates, or linguistic derivations, each suggestive of a different dispersal trajectory. Bananas remain a staple crop throughout the world, and tracing their route to domestication could help today's farmers breed more resilient crops, the authors suggest.
