Luigi Guarino

April 14, 2016April 30, 2021

A PGRFA course to take note of

A shout-out to everyone at the Wageningen UR course “Contemporary approaches to genetic resources conservation and use.” I was with them yesterday, and a great bunch they are too.

This is a very well put together and expertly taught, in large part by CGN staff, three-week introductory course, particularly strong on the policy aspects. It is offered every year. There were about 20-25 participants on this occasion, from all over the world, including four from CG Centre genebanks (ICRISAT and IITA).

April 12, 2016April 11, 2016

Nibbles: Sapote taste, Coffee breeding, Genes to ecosystems, Medicinal trifecta, Ganja, Aboriginal fire, Lupins, Endophytes, Oil algae, Schultes maps, Yeast diversity, Bees & diversity, CSA

You know you want to try black sapote.
Podcast on how to save coffee. And it probably needs it.
Once we’ve saved the cultivated species, maybe we should save it in the wild as well?
If not, there are other species, other drugs, I guess. No, really.
Indigenous fire management in Australia.
Everything you need on lupins. You’re welcome.
Is anyone collecting endophytes? Or microalgae for that matter?
Marvellous interactive atlas of the botanical collecting of Richard Evans Schultes in the Amazon.
Wine yeasts are way inbred. Which can’t be altogether good.
Watermelons need flower diversity.
One does feel for climate-stupid varieties.

April 11, 2016April 15, 2016

Another threatened Russian fruit collection

…a commission ordered that the land of the academy be transitioned for the destruction of educational buildings and living, agricultural fields, in order to establish the new development and construction of multi-level residential buildings.

Sound familiar? No, not Pavlovsk, but another famous Russian agricultural icon, Moscow’s Timiryazev Agricultural Academy.

…part of the land, Michurin’s orchard, was founded in 1939 and includes an extensive collection of fruit and berry biodiversity. The orchard is dedicated to the protection of unique plant varieties, which could not be transplanted without causing a dramatic loss. Nearly 200 apple varieties and 167 varieties of pears still flourish on this parcel. Apart from the historic and educational value of the land, it is also a national heritage, as granted by President Medvedev in 2008.

There’s a petition. Remember: pressure worked with Pavlovsk.

April 11, 2016

Seeds on Ice

Ready to pre-order!

April 11, 2016April 14, 2016

Brainfood: African greens, Latin American pigs, Japanese fruits, Cassava selection, Sunflower breeding, Angolan vegetables, Californian backyard maize, Mesoamerican priorities, Genetic stocks

Molecular Markers for Genetic Diversity Studies in African Leafy Vegetables. Not surprisingly, only 3% of 33 studies since 1998 are on Cleome, more than half on cowpea. And a quarter used RAPDs. Orphan crops, anyone? These one don’t even get a table summarizing and comparing findings across species.
Conservation priorities of Iberoamerican pig breeds and their ancestors based on microsatellite information. Depending on how you crunch the genetic numbers, Iberoamerican pig breeds could conceivably best be looked after by conserving their ancestral Iberian pig breeds. But it’s not just about the genetics, is it?
Native fruit tree genetic resources in Japan. Only a Castanea was domesticated in pre-modern times, and they’re all endangered in post-modern times.
Perceptual selection and the unconscious selection of ‘volunteer’ seedlings in clonally propagated crops: an example with African cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) using ethnobotany and population genetics. It’s seedlings that look most like existing varieties that farmers try to keep.
Changes in sunflower breeding over the last fifty years. From yield under optimal conditions to disease resistance, from oil quantity to quality. But international collaboration still needed.
Angolan vegetable crops have unique genotypes of potential value for future breeding programmes. Unique material documented, and hopefully made available for use.
Maize Germplasm Conservation in Southern California’s Urban Gardens: Introduced Diversity Beyond ex situ and in situ Management. Migrants bring along their crops.
An assessment of the conservation status of Mesoamerican crop species and their wild relatives in light of climate change. Priority areas for on farm and in situ conservation don’t by and large coincide with protected areas.
A Proposal Regarding Best Practices for Validating the Identity of Genetic Stocks and the Effects of Genetic Variants. Just do it.