Ancient DNA analysis of archaeological wheat remains may serve to clarify unknown or controversial points in the history of wheat. In the first part of this study, extraction and amplification of DNA from Anatolian charred ancient wheat seeds obtained from different locations and ages was attempted. None of the our extraction samples yielded any PCR amplification. The possible reasons for this result were investigated by constructing an artificial charring experiment. The results suggest that the chances of obtaining DNA from the charred archaeological samples used in this study by the methods used are very low. Moreover, strong PCR inhibition by these charred seed extracts was observed. The second part of the study aimed to develop new DNA based markers for ancient wheat DNA analysis. Markers linked to the brittle rachis character exhibiting domestication status were sought, but no result was obtained. Primers targeting plasmon sequences were developed and tested. A primer pair amplifying a 400 bp portion of the chloroplast TrnLTrnF intergenic region was focused upon. A short piece of this region was amplified using ancient wheat DNA extracted in another study. This short piece appeared non-polymorphicupon sequencing. The sequence spanning a wider portion of this region contained a number of length polymorphisms. Phylogenetic reconstruction using maximum parsimony showed that these polymorphisms were able to distinguish wheat taxa at the maternal ancestor level.

No description available.