Beyond starch production, cultivated yam underwent a major change in its living environment during domestication. Yams are now grown in open fields, whereas its wild relatives grow as vines in the shade of tutor trees. This environmental change during domestication certainly required adaptation due to such changes in light and heat. We observed strong signatures of selection in genes associated with physiological processes of regulation of photosynthesis for light tracking and for plant growth. Indeed, one of our candidate contigs is homologous to the Phototropin 2 gene (Phot2). In higher plants, Phot2 enables perception of blue light and consequently optimization of photosynthetic performance and growth .