Evolution of reproductive behaviour in the genus Eleusine

Abstract

The paper traces shifts in the reproductive behaviour as influenced by the selective pressures of crop domestication, in the genus Eleusine, from the wild species. E. africana to its domesticated form E. coracana. Among other changes we consider temporal features of flowering, nature of anthesis and dehiscence, the stigma to lemma length ratio determining the extent of stigma protrusion and the pollen grain to ovule ratio as important in changing the breeding behaviours. These changes are viewed as evolutionary responses of plants to their respective ecological niches.