Breeding

January 25, 2018January 25, 2018

Jobs available

Fancy blasting plants with mutation-inducing atomic rays? Good news just in from our friend Norman Warthmann, who recently joined the Plant Breeding and Genetics Laboratory of the FAO/IAEA joint Division in Vienna, Austria. They have two fairly high-level job openings. I can’t actually find the vacancy notices on the site, but I’m sure if you email Norman, he’ll send them to you.

Good luck.

LATER: One of the jobs is as a plant breeder.

January 23, 2018January 23, 2018

Nibbles: “Millets”, GLF, Agrobiodiversity & resilience, Nepali earthquake, Seed systems, Super beans in Uganda, Cherokee seeds, Potato Park, Italian cook, Ancient turkeys, Linnaean globalization, Wild rice genomes

I really don’t like the way a bunch of very different cereals are lumped together as “millets,” but anyway.
Mongabay optimistic about climate-smart agriculture after Global Landscape Forum.
I guess it must be the resilience.
Rebuilding Nepali seed systems after the earthquake. See what I mean?
And here’s a primer on innovative seed systems work from ICRISAT.
Beans for refugees. Seeds systems at work.
Cherokee nation knows what to do to get seeds out there.
So does the Parque de la Papa, for that matter.
Morocco has truffles? Yep.
Ancient turkeys were pets, not food.
Linnaeus was a globalist. Not his fault, though.
Australian gene-jockey says that Australian wild rice genome could make it easier to grow rice in Australia. Linnaeus, where are you?

January 22, 2018January 22, 2018

Brainfood: Marginal breeds, Biodiversity vs C, Cassava bread, Biodiversity & function, High throughput genomics, Speed breeding, Spiderplant breeding, Agronomy & breeding, Accessibility, PA threats, Diversification, Self-medicating apes, Rusty wheat

Signatures of positive selection in African Butana and Kenana dairy zebu cattle. Cattle breeds from marginal environments show signs of selection in genome regions associated with adaptation to marginal environments.
The extent and predictability of the biodiversity–carbon correlation. Co-benefits in about 20% of tropical regions.
Consistent effects of biodiversity loss on multifunctionality across contrasting ecosystems. Losing biodiversity has different effects on individual functions across ecosystems, but consistent effects on the overall impact on functionality. If you see what I mean.
Cassava bread in Nigeria: the potential of ‘orphan crop’ innovation for building more resilient food systems. The end of the value chain is the important bit.
Scaling up: A guide to high throughput genomic approaches for biodiversity analysis. Will probably need to be revised next year.
Speed breeding is a powerful tool to accelerate crop research and breeding. Shuttle breeding on steroids.
A roadmap for breeding orphan leafy vegetable species: a case study of Gynandropsis gynandra (Cleomaceae). Could do with some high-throughput speed breeding focused on the end of the value chain. How’s that for a coincidence (see 3 entries above)?
Impact of Crop Diversification on Rural Poverty in Nepal. Growing high-value vegetables can help. Is Cleome high enough value, I wonder, not for the first time?
Planning for food security in a changing climate. Actually it starts with envisioning new crop management systems, then comes breeding (see entry above).
A global map of travel time to cities to assess inequalities in accessibility in 2015. Over 10 years in the making, I’m told. Let the mashups begin.
An assessment of threats to terrestrial protected areas. Number of threats increases with accessibility. Somebody mention mashups?
Self-medication by orang-utans (Pongo pygmaeus) using bioactive properties of Dracaena cantleyi. External application as anti-inflammatory done by both orangutans and local indigenous human populations.
Yield effects of rust-resistant wheat varieties in Ethiopia. Improved resistant varieties are better, except under abiotic stress, which is why farmers are going back to traditional varieties. But are they comparing apples and oranges (as it were)?

January 15, 2018January 15, 2018

Brainfood: Desho grass, Wheat breeding, Restoration seed policies, Drought rice, Dietary quality, Passport data, Bombyx breeding, Tea domestication, Carp diversity, Abyssinian pea, Chickpea subsetting, Oat breeding, Phenointegration, Food trade

The potential of desho grass (Pennisetum pedicellatum Trin.) for animal feed and land management practices in Ethiopia: A review. “Physiologically, desho grass has a peculiar characteristic of drought tolerance, ability to produce large biomass per unit of land.”
Wheat genetic resources in the post-genomics era: promise and challenges. Need to go for more wide crosses, which requires more cytological expertise.
Native seed trade of herbaceous species for restoration: a European policy perspective with global implications. Current policies are inadequate.
Screening African Rice (Oryza glaberrima) for Tolerance to Abiotic Stresses: II. Lowland Drought. 4 out of over 2000 accessions are promising.
Dietary species richness as a measure of food biodiversity and nutritional quality of diets. Number of species consumed is a good indicator of the quality of the diet, across seasons and countries.
Could taxonomic misnaming threaten the ex situ conservation and the usage of plant genetic resources? Only 3% of Citrullus accessions in major genebank databases correctly named.
Genetic breeding of silkworms: from traditional hybridization to molecular design. Brave new world.
Domestication origin and breeding history of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) in China and India based on nuclear microsatellites and cpDNA sequence data. 3 domestication areas, in China and India.
Preservation of the genetic diversity of a local common carp in the agricultural heritage rice–fish system. Farmers like to select different colour types.
Abyssinian pea (Lathyrus schaeferi Kosterin pro Pisum abyssinicum A. Br.) – a problematic taxon. May have been the result of a spontaneous interspecific cross under cultivation.
Managing and Discovering Agronomically Beneficial Traits in Chickpea Germplasm Collections. Cores, mini-cores and reference sets facilitate use.
Evaluation of resistance to Blumeria graminis (DC.) f. sp. avenae, in Avena murphyi and A. magna genotypes. In oats, the lower-ploidy species have better resistance.
Editorial: Plant Phenotyping and Phenomics for Plant Breeding. The name of the game is integration.
Trade and the equitability of global food nutrient distribution. Trade is important to nutrition.

January 12, 2018January 12, 2018

Jerry Konanui

Some bad news from Penny:

It is with great sadness that I convey the news that Jerry Konanui, of the giant kalo, cultural practitioner, traditional Hawaiian kalo and ‘awa cultivar expert, friend and colleague has passed. Jerry was a shining example of an indigenous scientist who bridged both research and traditional practice effortlessly and was highly respected in Hawaii and elsewhere for his work. He was instrumental in reviving interest in Hawaiian crop biodiversity in the Islands and I was honored to have spent almost two decades working on cultivar recovery and identification with he and his wife. His verification work led to the re-establishment of improved collections among botanical gardens and agriculture stations in Hawaii. Jerry shared his knowledge with great aloha and humor over the years, captivating and inspiring hundreds of students and farmers to plant and rediscover the unique and fragrant flavors of Hawaiian taro and ‘awa. Aloha ‘oe Jerry! You will be sorely missed.

huge taro

Aloha ‘oe Jerry!