, June 19 -- Scientists have developed a new genetic analysis method that uses "time stamps" hidden in DNA to trace the complex origins of the cultivated strawberry, revealing a far more complicated evolutionary history than previously understood.

Many major crops, including strawberry, wheat and cotton, have highly complex genomes formed through repeated hybridization and whole-genome duplication. These plants carry multiple sets of chromosomes from different ancestral species, making it difficult for scientists to reconstruct their exact origins, especially when some ancestor species are extinct or unknown.

A new study published in the journal *Horticulture Research* presents a genome-wide approach that helps untangle these complicate...