- Sesame Crop: An Underexploited Oilseed Holds Tremendous Potential for Enhanced Food Value. Nice overview of diversity conservation and use. Lots of scope for improvement.
- Microsatellite based genetic diversity among the three water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis) populations in Turkey. No great evidence of differentiation among populations into breeds, unlike in India, say.
- Crop diversification, dietary diversity and agricultural income: empirical evidence from eight developing countries. More crops grown, more dietary diversity.
- Temporal evolution of the genetic diversity of Chaerophyllum bulbosum: Consequences on the genetic resources management. French article on the lack of hydrographic structuring, or erosion, in the genetic diversity of largely forgotten apiaceous root vegetable in Germany.
- Merging applied gene conservation activities with advanced generation breeding initiatives: a case study of Pinus radiata D. Don. Because introduction of new diversity from native areas is difficult, foresters in non-native areas should better understand and use the diversity in existing provenance/progeny trials.
- Comparative Analysis of Genetic Diversity among Cultivated Pigeonpea (Cajanus cajan (L) Millsp.) and Its Wild Relatives (C. albicans and C. lineatus) Using Randomly Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) and Inter Simple Sequence Repeat (ISSR Fingerprinting. 16 Indian accessions classified in 3 clusters, with the stress resistant material mostly together. More diversity in the wilds.
- The role of varietal attributes on adoption of improved seed varieties: the case of sorghum in Kenya. Not just about yield.
- Vegetation in Bangalore’s Slums: Boosting Livelihoods, Well-Being and Social Capital. What’s needed is trees with short stature, narrow trunks, medium canopy, high value. How many species like that can you think of?
- Comparison of fatty acid composition of oil from original and regenerated populations of wild Helianthus species. It’s not the same.
Nibbles: ICARDA barley, Trade wars, Aquaculture risks, Local vs organic, Chicken genetics, Dog origins, SSEx health, Diversity loss
- ICARDA DG breaks down barley research. Surprisingly without mentioning the germplasm collection.
- Great interactive infographic of all the world’s trade disputes, many of which of course involve agricultural products.
- Intensifying aquaculture comes with some risks.
- Local doesn’t mean organic. And vice versa.
- “Chickens are polymaths.” A new project will scratch around into the genetics of that.
- Only Alaskan dog breeds are truly American.
- Seed Savers Exchange busy making their seed happy.
- Forest and language diversity go together. Literally.
Nibbles: Early ag, Land data, CAP, African droughts, Risotto, Cowpea research, Reforestation
- Conditions at the dawn of Fertile Crescent agriculture were wetter and more, well, fertile. Been downhill ever since.
- Digitizing land data may not be good for women.
- European agricultural policies bad for diets.
- Africa will continue to face droughts. Looks like nobody can catch a break today.
- Ah, ok, here’s something good. Italian rice a hit in China. Gotta get your victories where you can.
- And some feel-good stuff on cowpea research in Mozambique.
- And to conclude our return from the slough of despond, some encouraging news about forest restoration.
Nibbles: Wheat database, Livestock maps, Indian apple genebank, UC Davis strawberries, Cheese fungi postdoc, Fruit domestication, Brassica genome, Early hunting dogs, Threatened species numbers, Bolivia conservation
- A Wheat Germplasm Database To Rule Them All. No, not from CGIAR.
- New livestock maps of the world. Yes, from CGIAR.
- Kashmir ponders an apple genebank.
- More from Game of Strawberries.
- Wanna study the population genomics of cheese fungi? Course you do.
- Domesticating local fruit trees good for nutrition, but need secure tenure and good planting material.
- Building better broccoli, the genome way.
- Early domesticated dogs helped in mammoth hunts.
- Current extinction rate about 1000 times higher than background. Databases can help with that, believe it or not.
- Building a national PGRFA system in Bolivia. When will they ratify the ITPGRFA, though?
Brainfood: Yam tissue culture, Barley core, Date genome, Ecosystem services & land use change, Remote sensing and conservation, Okra diversity, Carob diversity, Mexican genebank project, Chicken skin music, Mongolian camel, Coloured rice
- Effect of various growth regulators on growth of yam (Dioscorea trifida L.) in vitro shoot tips. One small step for yam cryopreservation.
- The USDA Barley Core Collection: Genetic Diversity, Population Structure, and Potential for Genome-Wide Association Studies. 5 sub-populations: roughly, Mediterranean, W Europe, E Europe, Asia and Ethiopia. GWAS effective in locating important phenotypes.
- A first genetic map of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) reveals long-range genome structure conservation in the palms. Lots of synteny with oil palm and coconut despite differences in genome size. And we now (probably) know how sex determination works.
- Economic evaluation of ecosystem goods and services under different landscape management scenarios. Agriculture usually wins at the expense of more “ecological” land uses, unless income from C and biodiversity (and timber) go up, or discount rates go down.
- Oil in the Sahara: mapping anthropogenic threats to Saharan biodiversity from space. You can spot biodiversity threats from space. More examples along the same lines.
- Genetic and morphological diversity of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus [L.] Moench.) genotypes and their possible relationships, with particular reference to Greek landraces. Much phenotypic variation, less AFLP variation, but geographically structured. Germination characteristics vary with ecology.
- Genetic diversity revealed by EST-SSR markers in carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.). First time carbob has been genotyped using microsatellites. And that seems to be the only reason why this work was done.
- Investigation of the genetic diversity of domestic Capra hircus breeds reared within an early goat domestication area in Iran. Breeds are diverse but geographically distinct, the western ones especially. Unlike sheep, which are moved around a lot more. Some evidence of inbreeding, which can and should be counteracted.
- Diversity Assessment and Development of Sustainable Use of Mexican Genetic Resources: Prospects of a SATREPS Project. That would be Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development, between the Japanese and Mexican genebanks. Looks like a lot of genotyping and in vitro conservation research on lesser-known crops.
- Establishing the validity of domestication genes using DNA from ancient chickens. You really need ancient DNA to study domestication.
- Genetic diversity and population structure of Mongolian domestic Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus). No breeds, no problem.
- Exploring Variability: New Brazilian Varieties SCS119 Rubi and SCS120 Onix for the Specialty Rices Market. Brazilian hipsters now have red and black rice.