Over at CABI’s blog there’s a great post summarizing some recent research on the possible effects of climate change on the wine industry. The grapevine is very sensitive to temperature and rainfall, making it a useful indicator of environmental change. Predictably, there will be both winners and losers among the traditional wine growing areas. Not quite sure how the average consumer will come out of it, but wine bores will have a whole new area of expertise to get to grips with.
White grapes are mutants
Thought that would get your attention. Actually, what the research summarized here revealed was that a couple of genes mutated independently thousands of years ago in the ancestor of the modern grapevine, whose berries were red. The resulting white variety proved to be the ancestor of almost all of the 3000 or so white grape varieties we have today. This discovery from CSIRO will apparently be useful in marker-assisted breeding.
Big banana boosts incomes
From Malaysia, news that a new banana variety called Pisang Sekaki has improved the lot of growers on Sebatik Island. Pisang Sekaki means “one-foot” banana and was apparently developed especially for the banana cracker market. The new variety has also increased job opportunities at the nearby cracker-producing factory.
The marula and the elephant
The sweet, juicy fruits of the marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea) are widely eaten in the miombo woodlands of southern Africa, and are also used to make the delicious Amarula Cream liqueur. But it’s not just people who like them: elephants will walk a long way for a marula feast. This piece looks at some of the evolutionary consequences.
Brazil to market biodiversity
Under an Environment Ministry initiative in Brazil research groups have selected 775 species to encourage production and hopefully develop major markets. Read about it here:
Five books will be published this year, each dedicated to one of the five major regions of Brazil, containing the knowledge that has been accumulated about these “plants of the future”. Seminars for the business community will be held to spread the word about the potential of these plants, which are ornamental or used to produce foods, beverages, medicines, oils and perfumes.