- 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: Agroecology, Seaweed, Groundnut genomes, Roman food, Nature
- It’s not the science, stupid.
- More kelp, sir?
- New genome promises
world dominationnon-allergenic peanut. - The diet of Roman soldiers in Glasgow could have been worse. But did they have take-out?
- There is no more Nature, capital N.
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.
Nibbles: Banning bars, New genomes, Pepper revolution, Participatory breeding, Organic mead, Paying for breeds, Punica breeding, Cyperus in Egypt, Adansonia in Uganda, Cyclone trees
- “Friends don’t let friends make bar plots.” Of course they don’t.
- Friend also don’t let friends hype the carrot and cassava genomes.
- “The food of the true revolutionary is the red pepper. And he who cannot endure red peppers is also unable to fight:” chili con China.
- Salvatore Ceccarelli, who should know, on the centrality of seed. And the guys from Experimental Farm Network would agree.
- Yes, you can now have organic tej.
- “In theory…the undoubted value of these natural treasures should be reflected in their price, which should rise steeply as they become scarcer… In practice, natural assets are often hard to price well, if at all.”
- A “Himalayan solution” for pomegranate breeding.
- Nutsedge definitely needs a new name.
- First formal record of the baobab in Uganda.
- Wind-resistant tree germplasm for the Pacific. Much needed.
Brainfood: Lupine seeds, Bangladeshi rice, Biscay anchovy, Sweet cassava, Ancient vetches, Salty adzuki, Maroon crops, Mungbean cores, Cassava genome
- Evaluation of thermal, chemical, and mechanical seed scarification methods for 4 Great Basin lupine species. They all need different things.
- Exploring novel genetic sources of salinity tolerance in rice through molecular and physiological characterization. A lot of salt-tolerant Bangladeshi landraces cluster together in an aromatic group close to japonica.
- No loss of genetic diversity in the exploited and recently collapsed population of Bay of Biscay anchovy (Engraulis encrasicolus L.). Effective population size has remained steady, irrespective of census population size.
- Molecular characterization of accessions of a rare genetic resource: sugary cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) from Brazilian Amazon. Two distinct genetic groups.
- Presence of vetches (Vicia spp.) in agricultural and wild floras of ancient Europe. One of the proto-IndoEuropean roots for the collective name of these things translates as “avoid”.
- Salt tolerance in wild relatives of adzuki bean, Vigna angularis (Willd.) Ohwi et Ohashi. Two crossable wild relatives had different salt tolerance mechanisms.
- The ‘Botanical Gardens of the Dispossessed’ revisited: richness and significance of Old World crops grown by Suriname Maroons. Some crops are only used in rituals now. But even that’s pretty cool, and better than nothing.
- The AVRDC–The World Vegetable Center mungbean (Vigna radiata) core and mini core collections. 1481 (20% of total) accessions chosen by geography and phenotype, then 289 by SSRs.
- Sequencing wild and cultivated cassava and related species reveals extensive interspecific hybridization and genetic diversity. And you can also use the results for rubber!