- Evaluation of Genetic Diversity of Proso Millet Germplasm Available in the United States using Simple-Sequence Repeat Markers. Germplasm collection diverse, released cultivars not so much.
- Genetic Diversification and Dispersal of Taro (Colocasia esculenta (L.) Schott). Most diverse in India, which is origin of W. African material, in contrast to the S. African, which comes from Japan. The Caribbean stuff comes from the Pacific, but the Central American from India.
- The genetic structure of the world’s first farmers. Ancient DNA suggests agriculture arose separately in southern Levant and Iran. Or at least that the first farmers in those regions didn’t speak together much.
- Current warming will reduce yields unless maize breeding and seed systems adapt immediately. Crop duration in Africa will decrease faster than you can breed for it.
- Uncertainty in soil data can outweigh climate impact signals in global crop yield simulations. And then there’s the whole soil thing.
- Evolutionary genomics of peach and almond domestication. Separated a long time ago, and fruit diverged before domestication, which occurred separately but in parallel.
- Phenotypic evaluation and genetic dissection of resistance to Phytophthora sojae in the Chinese soybean mini core collection. Some new genes found, and geographic hotspots of resistance too.
Nibbles: Climate smart trifecta, Interdependence, Herbs trifecta, Rare breeds, Mexican maize, Ethiopian barley
- What the Pacific islands need to do about climate change. What, nothing about conserving and using crop diversity? My friends at CePaCT will be pissed.
- What West African farmers are doing about climate change.
- Yeah, I guess it’s not always and only about crop diversity. But would it kill them to mention it?
- And if you’re interested where the Pacific (and West Africa, and everywhere else) gets its food from…
- Peruvian black mint is a thing. But not a relative of coriander.
- Yaupon is also a thing. Though it won’t go far with that scientific name.
- Recreating a Renaissance herb garden. Because we can. Where’s the Peruvian black mint, though?
- Eat rare breeds to conserve them. Not rare advice.
- No wall can keep out landrace maize.
- Ethiopian beer gets a boost.
Brainfood: Italian chickens, Maca genome, Ordonomics, AnGR, Stuffed potato, Biological control, Wild pea, Rice landraces
- Genetic variability of two Italian indigenous chicken breeds inferred from microsatellite marker analysis. Two Piedmontese breeds are closer to British breeds than other Italian or continental chickens. And poorly managed to boot.
- Genome of plant maca (Lepidium meyenii) illuminates genomic basis for high altitude adaptation in the central Andes. It’s the whole genome duplications, stupid.
- Rationalizing the GMO Debate: The Ordonomic Approach to Addressing Agricultural Myths. Yeah that’ll work.
- Factors and determinants of animal genetic resources management activities across the world. Capacity, says fancy maths.
- Accumulation of Genetic Diversity in the US Potato Genebank. The collection may need to double.
- Structure, function and management of semi-natural habitats for conservation biological control: A review of European studies. There is plenty of information on natural enemies in natural habitats (though not in woodlands, surprisingly), but not much on whether they make it to adjacent fields and actually have an effect on pests.
- Prospects of the use of wild relatives for pea breeding. More work needed. Starting with translating this thing from the Russian.
- Genetic Diversity Analysis Reveals Importance of Green Revolution Gene (Sd1 Locus) for Drought Tolerance in Rice. Back to the landraces.
SOTWP Day 1: Climate change, protected areas and extinction risk
In which our friend Nora Castañeda summarizes the first day of the State of the World’s Plants Symposium.
The first day of the Kew symposium was divided in three sessions: climate change, protected areas and extinction risk.
Dr Kay Havens from the Chicago Botanic Gardens opened the first session, presenting some of the responses that plants may display to climate change, such as: plasticity, adaptation and migration. Dr Havens recommended gathering seeds from the fringes of environmental niches, as a strategy to obtain useful adaptations to rapid climate change.
Following this, Dr Alistair Seddon presented his work on the relative response of ecosystems to climate variability. Prof. Sandra Díaz then described the major plant traits (and their combinations) that are currently dominant among plants. This is useful for vegetation and ecosystem modelling. Closing the climate change section, Prof. Yadvinder Malhi presented his research on the impacts of climate change on tropical forests. Did you know that logging can have a similar effect as climate change. You can find a comprehensive summary of Prof. Malhi’s research online.
Dr Iain Darbyshire opened the session on protected areas with his work on Tropical Important Plant Areas, followed by Lize von Staden and the technical approach that the South African National Biodiversity Institute is successfully using to establish in situ conservation priorities. Prof. William Laurance shared some of the considerations that should be taken into account for conserving plant diversity in natural reserves, including where roads and infrastructure should be built, the effectiveness of protected areas to meet their conservation objectives and the importance of connectivity between protected areas in the tropics. He introduced us to PADDDtracker:
We think of national parks and protected areas as permanent fixtures on the landscape, but recent research points to the widespread (but largely overlooked) protected area downgrading, downsizing, and degazettement (PADDD). In response, PADDDtracker.org is documenting the patterns, trends, causes, and consequences of PADDD. PADDDtracker.org allows you to learn about PADDD and share your experiences with the world: where has PADDD already happened? Where has PADDD been proposed? Why is PADDD happening?
The session closed with Diego Juffe-Bignoli from UNEP-WCMC discussing the contributions of protected areas to meeting international biodiversity targets (Aichi, GSPC and SDG).
For the extinction risk session, Prof. Quentin Cronk introduced the term “living dead” to describe those beautiful, large but lonely trees that are often seen in the middle of pastures (common in recently deforested regions). Living outside of their preferred ecological conditions and displaying no regeneration, they have little chance of long-term survival. Prof. Cronk was followed by Prof. David Richardson, who talked about the impacts of invasive plant species on native plant populations.
Then, Steve Bachman, one of the brains behind the Sampled Red List Index for Plants, presented current and future plans for continuing Red Listing plants, current advances in uploading assessments to the IUCN RedList, the need to increase the availability of data for assessing biodiversity threats, and approaches to improving the quality of data derived from citizen science. Prof. Vololoniaina Jeannoda closed the day with her presentation of the ongoing efforts to conserve the oviala — also known as the yams of the forest — in Madagascar. That’s crop wild relatives: more on that on day 2, as you’ll soon see.
Brainfood: Banana GWAS, Yeast genebanks, Hybrid sorghum, How to intensify ecologically, Med pastures, Food services, Neolithic transition, Ploughing the savanna
- A Genome-Wide Association Study on the Seedless Phenotype in Banana (Musa spp.) Reveals the Potential of a Selected Panel to Detect Candidate Genes in a Vegetatively Propagated Crop. One strong candidate gene, from 6 possible regions. And here’s the light version.
- Yeast culture collections in the twenty-first century: New opportunities and challenges. Pretty much the same as plant genebanks.
- Genetic variation in sorghum as revealed by phenotypic and SSR markers: implications for combining ability and heterosis for grain yield. Possible parents for hybrids identified.
- Actionable knowledge for ecological intensification of agriculture. Look at the landscape, articulate trade-offs and don’t forget the social dynamics.
- Taxonomic and functional diversity in Mediterranean pastures: Insights on the biodiversity–productivity trade-off. Somebody mention trade-offs?
- Are the major imperatives of food security missing in ecosystem services research? Pretty much.
- Reproductive trade-offs in extant hunter-gatherers suggest adaptive mechanism for the Neolithic expansion. Agriculture got you laid, but then killed you.
- High carbon and biodiversity costs from converting Africa’s wet savannahs to cropland. Bad idea all round.