- Sorghum and millet breeder honoured in Zimbabwe. Always good to see.
- Germplasm evaluation efforts of Indian national genebank make it into the mainstream financial press. Also very good to see.
- Zambian national genebank does some much-needed safety duplication. More good news.
- Possibly good news, hard to say: Russian news agency on what seems to be a new wild rice genebank in China.
- Always good news to see two countries agree to collaborate on genetic resources.
- Manchester viaduct gets a greenlift. Good to see it, despite no genebanks being involved.
Brainfood: Ukrainian edition
- Characteristics of the resistance of spring wheat varieties to pathogens of leaf diseases typical for the zone of the Right-Bank Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. 3 of 19 varieties from the national genebank could be useful.
- The adaptability of soft spring wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) varieties. 3 of 10 accessions from the national genebank had high general adaptive ability.
- Investigation of the Carbohydrates of Camelina sativa (L.) Crantz and Camelina microcarpa Andrz. Levels of monosaccharides quantified in material from the national genebank.
- Characteristic of morphological traits and biochemical indicators in Linum pubescens. A flax wild relative with ornamental potential.
- Inheritance of productivity and its elements by hybrids and lines of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Lots of interesting variation to investigate further among F1-F6 hybrids.
- Combining ability of self-pollined sunflower lines – parents of confectionery hybrids. Tasty material derived from genebank accessions.
- Оil content in chickpea seeds of the national collection of Ukraine. Could do with more variation among the 43 accessions tested from the national genebank. But the whole collection is pretty important.
- Plant genetic resources of Ukrainian Podillia. Results of a 2019 collecting expedition by the national genebank.
- Genetic relatedness of sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars from Ukraine determined by microsatellite markers. Ukrainian cultivars combine genetic material of local, western European, and Caucasian origin.
- Characteristics of different varieties of the pea (Pisum sativum L.) in the zone of the Southern Forest-Steppe of Ukraine. Some of 30 newly introduced pea varieties might be useful in increasing productivity.
- Progress in Japanese quinces breeding in Ukraine. Since 1913!
- Molecular diversity in the Ukrainian melon collection as revealed by AFLPs and microsatellites. 38 accessions fall into the 3 standard genetic groups.
- The history of sunflowers in Ukraine. Not peer-reviewed, but anyway.
White strawberry privileged
Great piece from the always reliable Gastro Obscura on Chile’s white strawberry. It truly has all the canonical agrobiodiversity tropes: interdependence for diversity, the importance of wild relatives, the downside of reforestation, genetic erosion and how chefs can help. Oh, and biopiracy. The only thing that’s missing, in fact, is genebanks. Can’t have everything. But it could be used to teach the subject.
Nibbles: Chinese crop diversity, Reforestation, Seed swapping, Biofortification
- China does a census of crop diversity for its genebank.
- Getting birds to help replant forests in early modern Japan.
- Swapping seeds in Bristol.
- The complementary roles of fortification and biofortification.
Unfried beans
Are you interested in populations that happen to be hybrids between common beans and some other species? Well, so are our friends at CIAT, and they’re involved in a project with NIAB in the UK to study these hybrid populations from their genebank:
The idea is to see if they could be used in breeding for climate change adaptation.
Researchers will be exploring common bean hybrid populations to learn more about their physical characteristics, genetics, responses to disease and ease of use for breeding programmes.
You can catch up on the latest findings on the NIAB website, but also in an online workshop on March 1.