A genetic study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS) identified the Yucatán Peninsula in Mexico as the center of domestication of cultivated cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), the world's most important source of natural textile fiber. The research, led by Iowa State University (USA), analyzed samples from wild cotton populations in Florida, Yucatán, and the Caribbean islands of Puerto Rico and Guadeloupe.
The results indicate that domestication was a gradual process, marked by the accumulation of mutations over time, rather than rapid changes as seen in other crops. Phylogenomic and population structure analyses confirm that northwestern Yucatán harbors the greatest genetic diversity, while populations in the northeastern peninsula and the Caribbean are smaller and more dispersed, although they maintain unique foci of variability.
The study quantified genetic diversity in wild populations and revealed the origin of the cultivated gene pool, the genetic bottlenecks that accompanied domestication, and the possible ecological and anthropogenic processes that shaped the current distribution of cotton. The research suggests that the original perennial forms later gave rise to modern annual crops.