DNA – Page 40 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

October 18, 2014October 17, 2014

Rocking the cassava genome

One is of course over the moon about the publication of the cassava genome, with its now de rigueur amusing representation of the relationship between it and the genomes of other species, in this case in the shape of a cluster of tubers. But could not the Nature Communications editor have been a little more careful about those species names in one of the other figures?

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August 27, 2014

Nibbles: Palms, Walnuts, Gardening game, Measuring biodiversity, Promoting biodiversity, Restoring land, Honeybee evolutions, Amaranth recipes, Cider communication

Someone you know might need to know the difference between a coconut palm and an oil palm.
Or between English walnuts and French walnuts (and much more besides).
Is an interactive game really the best way for children to learn about organic gardening?
Canadian Cattlemen magazine shares a woman scientist’s deep insights into measuring biodiversity.
And Indian priests used Konnsanchem fest to urge the revival of agrobiodiversity.
Other Indians are restoring their land by getting rid of an interloper crop.
DNA suggests a new ancestral home for the honeybee.
Now I know what to do with the amaranth blocking every pavement in Rome: how to cook this prolific leafy green.
Nominally about cider and apples, Pete Brown downs Strongbow’s communications in a few quick drafts.

August 25, 2014July 29, 2014

Brainfood: Ethiopian wild veggies, Cold tolerant rice, Chickpea genomics, Improved tilapia, Wild cassava oil, Chinese horses, Chinese melon, Seed sampling, Tomato spp sequencing

Wild and semi-wild leafy vegetables used by the Maale and Ari ethnic communities in southern Ethiopia. 30 of them.
Collection and Conservation of Cold Adapted Indigenous Rice Landraces from Western Ghats, South India. 56 of them.
Exploring Germplasm Diversity to Understand the Domestication Process in Cicer spp. Using SNP and DArT Markers. 3 populations among domesticated types; more diversity in the wilds.
Genetically-Improved Tilapia Strains in Africa: Potential Benefits and Negative Impacts. Mean present value of introducing an improved strain to Ghana is 1% of GDP, but you could get same with better management. Both would of course be best.
Diversity in oil content and fatty acid profile in seeds of wild cassava germplasm. Some species could be oil crops.
The Study of Genetic Diversity and Phylogenetic Evolution in Indigenous Horses (Equus caballus) of Gansu. If I understand the abstract correctly, this suggests, among other things, that some local horse breeds can be traced back to Przewalski’s Horse, maybe.
Microsatellite Diversity, Population Structure, and Core Collection Formation in Melon Germplasm. In China. Frankly not nearly as interesting as the horse story.
Optimal sampling of seeds from plant populations for ex-situ conservation of genetic biodiversity, considering realistic population structure. 25–30 individuals per population from few but widely-spaced populations.
Exploring genetic variation in the tomato (Solanum section Lycopersicon) clade by whole-genome sequencing. 20x more diversity in the wilds than the cultivated, correlated with habitat.
Understanding Sustainable Diets: A Descriptive Analysis of the Determinants and Processes That Influence Diets and Their Impact on Health, Food Security, and Environmental Sustainability. The determinants of sustainability are agricultural, health, sociocultural, environmental and socioeconomic, and fiddling with one to improve it may screw up another.
Anchoring durum wheat diversity in the reality of traditional agricultural systems: varieties, seed management, and farmers’ perception in two Moroccan regions. Farmers grow both improved varieties and landraces, the latter mainly for their quality characteristics.
Unraveling the nexus between water and food security in Latin America and the Caribbean: regional and global implications. Production has increased, but at the cost of the natural capital of the region, and nutritional problems persist.

August 11, 2014July 13, 2014

Brainfood: Azeri grapes, Biodiversity & ecoservices, Ivorian melons, Omani chickens, Insecticides & pollinators, Czech wild wheat, African yams, Livestock breeding, Natural selection, Bean proteins

Biodiversity and breeding of grapes: a study in Azerbaijan. Long history, 2 main wild types, 600 cultivated varieties, 100 of them threatened.
Linkages between biodiversity attributes and ecosystem services: A systematic review. Mainly, but not exclusively, positive. Always complicated.
Genetic relationships among accessions of African indigenous melons (Cucumis melo L. ssp. agrestis) using AFLP markers. Vegetable and soup thickener types separate genetically.
From India to Africa across Arabia: An mtDNA assessment of the origins and dispersal of chicken around the Indian Ocean Rim. Arabian chickens come from India, Somali chickens from SE Asia.
A restatement of the natural science evidence base concerning neonicotinoid insecticides and insect pollinators.. Here’s the data. Make up your own mind.
Aegilops conservation and collection evaluation in the Czech Republic. 1 species in situ, 21 ex situ.
Next-generation sequencing based genotyping, cytometry and phenotyping for understanding diversity and evolution of guinea yams. Both wild and cultivated species form distinct groups, except for Dioscorea rotundata, which is a mishmash of stuff.
Issues and concerns in smallholder livestock genetic improvement programs in Africa. Got to select for multiple uses under less-than-ideal conditions. Not easy.
Exploring natural selection to guide breeding for agriculture. Survival in the wild is not the same as performance in a cultivated field, but understanding the basis of adaptation can still help in breeding.
Evaluating Two-Dimensional Electrophoresis Profiles of the Protein Phaseolin as Markers of Genetic Differentiation and Seed Protein Quality in Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.). Back to the future. Who needs DNA when you have proteins.

July 29, 2014July 29, 2014

Nibbles: Coconut disease, Maize hybrid history, Measuring nutrition, Pollan on biodiversity & health, Ugandan staples, Shamba Shapeup, Ethiopian wine, South African diversification, Damn dumplings, Disease curation, Quinoa curation, Mango treat, Indian mangoes

Lethal Yellowing doing for coconuts — and livelihoods — in Mozambique. And typhoons in the Philippines.
Potted history of maize hybrids from 1998.
Unusual rice and tomato species sequenced.
The challenges of measuring the impact of nutrition interventions.
Old interview with Michael Pollan on biodiversity and health resurfaces, maybe to coincide with the above.
What will be the nutrition impact of replacing matooke with cassava, I wonder? Maybe if it was yellow cassava it would be ok?
Maybe Shamba Shapeup will tell us.
Well, there’s always wine. Even in Ethiopia.
Or insects. Or roiboos. If you’re in South Africa.
Chinese dumplings responsible for climate change.
New Scoop.it page on downy mildews.
And new Flipboard section on quinoa. And something to add to it.
Eid Mubarak! Celebrate with mango kunafa.
But which variety?