ABSTRACT
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................34 Description of Cultivated Sesame ....................................................................................................34 Sesame Nomenclature and Lineage ................................................................................................. 38 Methodology .................................................................................................................................... 39 Botanical Description ....................................................................................................................... 39
Stem............................................................................................................................................. 39 Leaves .......................................................................................................................................... 39 Flowers ........................................................................................................................................40 Fruit .............................................................................................................................................40 Seeds ...........................................................................................................................................40 Functional Form: Glandular Trichomes ...................................................................................... 41
Growth and Development ................................................................................................................ 43 Synergistic Sesame Lignans............................................................................................................. 43 Ecology of Sesame and Various Wild Relatives .............................................................................. 45 Phenotypic Variation of Cultivated Sesame ..................................................................................... 47 Sesame Seed Color Relative to Oil Content ....................................................................................48 Sesame Domestication ..................................................................................................................... 49 Biogeography and Crop Movements ............................................................................................... 51 Sesamum Systematics Misconstrued ................................................................................................ 51 Sections of Sesamum L. ................................................................................................................... 53
Section Sesamum ......................................................................................................................... 53 Section Chamaesesamum Benth. ................................................................................................ 53 Section Sesamopteris Endl. ......................................................................................................... 53
Sesamum alatum Thonn. ........................................................................................................54 Section Aptera Seidensticker ...................................................................................................... 57
Sesamum angolense Welw. ..................................................................................................... 57 Sesamum angustifolium (Oliv.) Engl. ..................................................................................... 59
Section under Scrutiny ................................................................................................................ 61 S. radiatum Schumacher and Thonner ................................................................................... 61 Sesamum latifolium Gillett .....................................................................................................65
Genetic Relationships Determined by Interspecific Hybridizations ................................................ 67 Sesame Genetic Resources in Gene Banks ...................................................................................... 67 Germplasm Resources and Policies: The Example of Ethiopia .......................................................68 Conclusions ......................................................................................................................................68 Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................................68 References ........................................................................................................................................69
Knowledge of the genetic range of and relationships between cultivars is useful in breeding programs, since a wide range of identified genetic diversity in parents is valuable in hybridization efforts. The goal of most sesame breeders is to achieve high-yielding, non-shattering, disease-resistant cultivars.
