Jojoba: adaptation to environmental stress and the implications for domestication.

Simmondsia chinensis is an arid-zone, perennial shrub which is being domesticated to exploit the liquid wax contained in the seed. The physiological adaptations of jojoba to temperature, water and salt stresses in terms of water relations, growth and photosynthesis are reviewed. Implications of these adaptations for survival in the wild and for domestication are discussed. The extensive existing variability in the physiological responses to environmental factors should permit the selection of a range of jojoba cultivars. -from Authors