Genebanks

September 14, 2012September 14, 2012

Taro help is at hand

It was a couple of years ago that we started talking about the arrival of taro leaf blight in West Africa, and the possible role that resistant material from the Pacific might have in averting a catastrophe. Well:

On 21 August 2012, help came with the arrival of breeders’ lines from Samoa and PNG and varieties from countries in Asia.

We will be following their progress with much interest.

September 13, 2012

How much would it cost to save chocolate?

The cacao community has a global strategy out for the conservation and sustainable use of cacao genetic resources.

In order to safeguard the security of cacao diversity, on which the world depends for cocoa production now and in the future, and to ensure its accessibility and sustainable use, the Global Strategy has estimated the cost of annual recurrent management activities at 1,832,736 USD.

Doesn’t seem so much to ensure the world doesn’t run out of chocolate, now does it.

September 12, 2012

What’s wrong with this picture?

Slideshare is a great resource, but I’m always slightly worried I might be missing something. Take, for example, the presentation on the barriers to adoption by Haven D. Ley, just shared by the Borlaug Global Rust Initiative. In particular, look at the seventh slide. It includes this diagram:

No reference to genebanks? Really? But, who knows, maybe the presenter mentioned the need for an occasional influx of novel diversity, and the best source for that, in their verbal comments on the slide. Or made the point that the diagram is necessarily a simplification. Or even that this is an illustration of how NOT to do breeding. I’d be interested to know what our breeder readers think of this diagram as a representation of their trade.

September 12, 2012September 12, 2012

Nibbles: Red List, Açaí, Edible forest, Horticulture, Heirloom seed bank, Malnutrition journal, Tea breeding, Speak!

Can cultivated species get their own Red List? Stefano Padulosi asks the tough questions.
Açaí: could the wonder fruit also be wonderful for forests? CIFOR asks the tough questions.
And more: You mean you can eat that?
Horticulture has rock stars? My turn to ask the tough questions.
Ok, so what US county is “…a hotbed of diversified, small-scale organic, natural processed food production”? Maybe not so tough.
Will there be a follow-up to Lancet’s 2008 series on malnutrition? That’s an easy one.
Luigi’s mother-in-law asks: Where can I get my hands on that drought-resistant tea?
Got any other questions? World Wide Views on Biodiversity wants to hear from you, this Saturday. (Answers too, I suppose.)

September 10, 2012September 10, 2012

Brainfood: Wild soybean, Leafy vegetables collection gaps, Banana drought tolerance screening, Chinese soybean breeding, Malagasy coffee collections, Bacteria on beans

Perennial Glycine: A new source of genetic diversity for soybean improvement. The perennial wild species are genetically and geographically distant from the crop, but at least one can be crossed, with some difficulty, and some potentially useful genes have been enticed to make their way into the cultivated genome. To no great effect, but it’s early days yet.
Genetic resources collections of leafy vegetables (lettuce, spinach, chicory, artichoke, asparagus, lamb’s lettuce, rhubarb and rocket salad): composition and gaps. You can just read the collecting priorities for each genepool, or analyze the data yourself.
Screening the banana biodiversity for drought tolerance: can an in vitro growth model and proteomics be used as a tool to discover tolerant varieties and understand homeostasis? Maybe.
Development of yield and some photosynthetic characteristics during 82 years of genetic improvement of soybean genotypes in northeast China. Yield doubled, but at the cost of water use efficiency. Maybe those perennials could help?
An assessment of the genetic integrity of ex situ germplasm collections of three endangered species of Coffea from Madagascar: implications for the management of field germplasm collections. For 3 wild species, there’s lots of genetic diversity in field genebanks, but also lots of crossing with other species.
Diversity of culturable bacteria and occurrence of phytopathogenic species in bean seeds (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) preserved in a germplasm bank. “…the fact that potentially phytopathogenic bacteria have been preserved in a genebank should emphasize the importance of rigorous sanitary controls for plant genetic resources.” You think?