- The recent evolutionary rescue of a staple crop depended on over half a century of global germplasm exchange. Sorghum in Haiti was saved from pest by breeders mixing up material from all over the place.
- Does crop genetic diversity support positive biodiversity effects under experimental drought? Not straightforwardly, at least for barley cultivar mixtures in pots.
- A Nutrition-Sensitive Agroecology Intervention in Rural Tanzania Increases Children’s Dietary Diversity and Household Food Security But Does Not Change Child Anthropometry: Results from a Cluster-Randomized Trial. Well at least it’s more straightforward than the above.
- The tepary bean genome provides insight into evolution and domestication under heat stress. Better heat adaptation than common bean, but less disease and pest resistance.
- The international political process around Digital Sequence Information under the Convention on Biological Diversity and the 2018–2020 intersessional period. Can’t take the above for granted.
- Practical consequences of digital sequence information (DSI) definitions and access and benefit‐sharing scenarios from a plant genebank’s perspective. Genebanks trying not to take the above for granted.
- Cryopreservation of Woody Crops: The Avocado Case. There’s been a breakthrough in shoot tip cryopreservation.
- Using Regulatory Flexibility to Address Market Informality in Seed Systems: A Global Study. Regulatory flexibility would certainly be a breakthrough for linking formal and informal seed systems. And, incidentally, not bad for DSI either.
- A recipe development process model designed to support a crop’s sensory qualities. When you want to make a recipe for a new ingredient (crop or heirloom variety), start with what makes the ingredient special, not with what might make the end-product special.
- Genetic diversity and population structure analysis in a large collection of white clover (Trifolium repens L.) germplasm worldwide. Native and introduced populations are genetically differentiated.
- Limited haplotype diversity underlies polygenic trait architecture across 70 years of wheat breeding. Crunch time for UK wheat breeders: continue shuffling within the existing diversity, or expand it?
- Molecular Parallelism Underlies Convergent Highland Adaptation of Maize Landraces. Adaptation to high altitude from the SW US to the Andes was due to wild genes from the Mexican highlands.
Another career in crop diversity
Dr Mike Jackson is retired now, after a long and very impactful career in plant genetic resources conservation. But he writes about that career, and a lot more besides, on his blog. And now there’s also a nice conversation with him on the Plant Breeding Stories podcast, focusing on his work on potato and rice.
Nibbles: Yeast, Asian veggies, Ancient malt, AYB
- Researchers manipulate biodiversity to reduce the amount of alcohol in wine. For some reason.
- Promoting the cultivation of traditional Asian vegetables in the US. That’s more like it.
- Reproducing ancient malting. Now you’re talking.
- Giving African yam bean a helping hand. Faith in researchers duly restored.
Nibbles: Food/feed, Saving collards, Intoxicant history, Watermelon origins
- Livestock not so bad after all.
- Especially with collards.
- I’ll drink (or take another intoxicant) to that.
- Maybe cleanse the palate with a nice fresh watermelon.
Tom Payne on a career conserving and using wheat diversity
It’s really transition time at the CIMMYT genebank. Denise Costich retired, and Terry Molnar took over her role running the maize part of the operation. And very soon Tom Payne will also retire, from leading the wheat genebank. Check out this nice Q&A with Tom, and join me in wishing him all the best on the next chapter of his life.
LATER: Oops, I forgot this other Q&A on conservation of agrobiodiversity with a CIMMYT staff member. Courtesy of Simran Sethi.