Fruits and nuts – Page 148 – Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

August 19, 2014August 19, 2014

Freeing the banana

By freeing Musa balbisiana of infectious eBSV, virologists are once again friends with #banana breeders says Pierre-Yves Teycheney #IHC2014

— ProMusa (@promusa_banana) August 19, 2014

Well, that sounds teasingly intriguing. Fortunately, we have a mole at the relevant symposium of the International Horticultural Congress in Brisbane. Here’s his brief report from the trenches:

Great talk also by Pierre Yves Teycheney, who together with his colleagues at CIRAD seems to have found a way to deal with the problem of the endogenous Banana Streak Virus that is embedded in the Musa B-genome. Since its discovery this virus had essentially brought to a halt CIRAD’s inter-specific hybrid breeding program, and prevented distribution of any hybrid materials that contained the B-genome. Luckily, an allelic difference was detected that renders the virus non-infectious, so researchers at CIRAD managed to develop B-genome materials (through traditional approaches but also doubled haploids) that are homozygous for the non-infections alleles and ‘voila!’ derived non-infectious material is now again flowing through CIRAD’s interspecific hybrid breeding program!

Keep it coming, people!

August 18, 2014

Standing up for fruits and veggies

The International Horticulture Congress is up and running in Brisbane, and getting a lot of attention from the Aussie media. ((Unfortunately, I don’t think a fun feature on fruits in the Bible, from Bible History Daily, was in any way linked in.)) There’s a slick video on the global importance of horticulture to help the frenzy along:

Apart from the World Vegetable Center — whose DG came up with the quote of the day: “Things like cucumber and cabbage are essentially just water standing up” — ProMusa is also there in force, and making a splash on social media. That’s because of a special symposium on banana genomics, one of a great lineup of side-workshops. The one we’re particularly looking forward to is the 4th International Symposium on Plant Genetic Resources: Genetic Resources for Climate Change. The hashtag for the whole thing is #IHC2014.

No word on whether the black sapote or medicinal willows, both in the news this week, will feature at any point in Brisbane, but, if they don’t, they have a second chance at the next big global research shindig, the International Union of Forest Research Organization’s (IUFRO) 24th World Congress, from 5 to 11 October 2014 in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Its theme will be “Sustaining Forests, Sustaining People: The Role of Research.”

As ever, we welcome reports from such events.

August 18, 2014August 18, 2014

Brainfood: Dryland protected areas, Breeding olives, Tomato cryo, Bacterial diversity, Beta diversity, Old hops, Wild strawberries, Sea bass genome, Forest management, Sorghum biomass

The role of protected areas in supplying ten critical ecosystem services in drylands: a review. Let the communities take the lead, be inventive about governance.
Breeding Oil and Table Olives for Mechanical Harvesting in Spain. 19,000 seedlings, 481 preselections in intermediate field trials, 31 advanced selections in a network of field trials, 1 new protected cultivar Sikitita (Chiquitita in USA).
Phenotypic and molecular characterization of plants regenerated from non-cryopreserved and cryopreserved wild Solanum lycopersicum Mill. seeds. Oops, SSRs pick up some changes.
Pollen Cryopreservation to Support Maintenance of a Wild Species Collection of the Genus Allium. Variable success. And no word on somaclonal variation.
Epiphytic bacteria biodiversity in Brazilian Cerrado fruit and their cellulolytic activity potential. No fewer than 29 bacterial genera on 32 native fruits, 30% producing cellulase.
Fine-scale spatial genetic structure of common and declining bumble bees across an agricultural landscape. Not much structure, due to queen dispersal. Declining species less diverse.
Genetic Diversity in Remnant Swedish Hop (Humulus lupulus L.) Yards from the 15th to 18th Century. The old varieties are still there, having gone feral in abandoned yards because, unlike for 450 years until 1860, Swedish farmers are, alas, no longer obliged to grow the stuff.
A comparison of wild and cultivated strawberries for nitrogen uptake and reduction. Some wild accessions might be better at assimilating N.
Advances in European sea bass genomics and future perspectives. There’s a sequenced genome, but nobody’s using it.
Genetic effects of forest management practices: Global synthesis and perspectives. There’s no excuse for not doing the right thing now.
Exploring the variability of a photoperiod-insensitive sorghum genetic panel for stem composition and related traits in temperate environments. You can improve biomass quantity and quality simultaneously. Stem composition variability follows genetic origin.

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.

August 8, 2014August 7, 2014

Nibbles: Restoring forests, Sampling strategies, Breadfruit history, Wheat & CC, Pacific fisheries, Sustainable food experts, CG talkfest, Irish & potatoes, Diet costs, ITPGRFA projects, Poaching & medicine, Coca alternatives, Ethiopian agroforestry, Mutation breeding, Gaza greens

Genetic considerations in ecosystem restoration using native tree species. No excuse for getting it wrong now.
“Careful tailoring of seed collections to specific species and situations critical to preserving plant diversity.” No excuse for getting it wrong now.
Breadfruit makes The Paris Review.
Got any ideas on protecting wheat from heat and drought?
Where will Pacific Islanders get their protein from if all the fish go?
International Panel of Experts on Sustainable Food Systems set up. Rejoice. Maybe they’ll be invited to the CGIAR’s Development Dialogues.
The Irish know a thing or two about sustainable food systems.
Yeah but how much does a decent diet cost anyway?
An overview of the Seed Treaty’s projects on climate change adaptation.
Poaching in Kenya driven by demand for dodgy traditional medicine? And finding an alternative for Peru’s traditional medicine of choice.
What has agroforestry ever done for us?
You say conventional I say mutation.
The leafy greens of Gaza.

1. Modelling adoption of biofortified crops is no substitute for empirical field surveys. Kind of obvious, but I guess needed saying.
2. Kenyans may not need biofortified crops, though. Assuming they are actually eating their traditional vegetables.
3. There’s a whole genebank for Africa’s vegetables.
4. Saba senegalensis is also naturally biofortified.
5. The High Atlas Foundation is also on a fruit tree mission
6. Is the date palm the most important fruit tree in the world, though?
7. I wonder what will happen to USDA’s fruit tree collections.
Published on August 19, 2025