Breeding

July 29, 2015May 2, 2018

Tweeting up a storm in Minneapolis and Pullman

What did we do before Twitter? Had a life, probably. But also, it was undeniably more difficult to keep up to date with stuff. Absent heroic tweeps in Minneapolis, I would not have been able to follow Plant Biology 2015 quite so assiduously, and thus find out about, among many other things, the Legume Federation. Or indeed see their poster.

Likewise the annual meeting of the National Association of Plant Breeders would have slipped me by. And I would have missed this photo of two plant breeding legends.

#NAPB2015. Two giants of wheat breeding whose shoulders we all stand on. Bob Allen and Cal Qualset–great people!! pic.twitter.com/po6PPvmW5b

— UNL Small Grains Breeding- Frels Lab (@Huskerwheat) July 28, 2015

July 27, 2015July 27, 2015

Brainfood: Pepper tree conservation, Buckwheat diversity, Seed drying, Grape database, Livestock improvement, Soil bacterial diversity, TLB in Nigeria, Humans & diversity double, Faidherbia @ICRAF

Genetic structure and internal gene flow in populations of Schinus molle (Anacardiaceae) in the Brazilian Pampa. Try to keep what forest patches remain. And link them up somehow.
Genetic Diversity of Buckwheat Cultivars (Fagopyrum tartaricum Gaertn.) Assessed with SSR Markers Developed from Genome Survey Sequences. Two groups, overlapping in Qinghai, China.
Increases in the longevity of desiccation-phase developing rice seeds: response to high-temperature drying depends on harvest moisture content. Genebanks may have it wrong for seeds of rice (and perhaps other tropical species) harvested while still metabolically active: these you can dry at higher temperatures than is the norm.
Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC): A cultivar database referenced by genetic profiles and morphology. Now with added microsatellites.
Options for enhancing efficiency and effectiveness of research capacity for livestock genetics in, and for, sub-Saharan Africa. Embed in wider rural development, collaborate, and share data. Could apply to more than just livestock improvement.
Mapping and validating predictions of bacterial biodiversity using European and national scale datasets. It’s the pH.
Agricultural Extension Roles towards Adapting to the Effects of Taro Leaf Blight (Tlb) Disease in Nsukka Agricultural Zone, Enugu State. Basically, extensionists haven’t done a thing.
Anthropogenic drivers of plant diversity: perspective on land use change in a dynamic cultural landscape. Abandoning farmland is not good for biodiversity.
Agricultural landscapes and biodiversity conservation: a case study in Sicily (Italy). Ahem. Abandoning farmland is not good for biodiversity.
Genetic diversity of Faidherbia albida (Del.) A. Chev accessions held at the World Agroforestry Centre. It’s not enough.

July 24, 2015July 24, 2015

Nibbles: High science, Methane-friendly rice, Gender, Indian priestesses, Banana extinction, Inka legacy, Diversity in ag, Yerba genome, Cucumber chains, Tomato relative, Agrobiodiversity in art

High-level agricultural scientists thinks high agricultural science will feed the world. Oh, and smart policies.
This new rice would qualify, I suspect.
Participatory varietal selection manual revised to take women into account. Someone mention high science?
No such manual needed in India, it seems.
The banana-is-doomed story sure has legs. Or hands.
What did the Inkas ever do for us?
Is agriculture diverse enough? That is the question.
Yerba mate gets sequenced. Because it can be.
Following an Indian cucumber down the value chain.
Thank your lucky stars for this weedy-looking tomato wild relative.
“We’re interested in the color, shape and sizes of the vegetables from 400 years ago, compared to modern cultivars of the same vegetables: the deep sutures on cantaloupe in Italian art of the Renaissance or the lack of pigmentation in pictures of watermelon compared to today.”
Quite a bit of agrobiodiversity featured in Day of Archaeology. Nice idea.

July 23, 2015

How do you do biofortification?

Well…

First, plant breeders screen thousands of different types of crop seed stored in global seed banks to discover varieties with naturally higher amounts of micronutrients.

Nicely, and all too rarely, said.

July 22, 2015

Nibbles: Oz vineyard apocalypse, California vineyards redux, Ethiopian genebank, Maya collapse revisionism, SunBlack tomato, Nutritious staples, Citrus endowment, Sheep pix

In Australia, they’re ripping up vineyards.
Whereas in California, they’re going to breed 10,000 new grape varieties and make a new wine. Go figure.
Interview with the director of the Ethiopian national genebank, Dr Gemedo Dalle.
Deforestation et al. not responsible for Maya collapse after all. Jared Diamond unavailable for comment.
Black tomato a hit in Italy. Looks crap on pizza though.
The case for biofortification.
University of Florida sets up endowment to protect its research groves in face of citrus greening.
Googlesheepview. Nuff said.