Genetic diversity

November 10, 2015November 11, 2015

National Genetic Resources Advisory Council discusses birds and bees and diversity

Speaking of meetings…

The National Genetic Resources Advisory Council (NGRAC), a sub-committee of the National Agricultural Research, Extension, Education, and Economics (NAREEE) Advisory Board of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), is holding a meeting November 9-10, 2015, in Baton Rouge, LA. The meeting will focus on the conservation and utilization of livestock, aquatic and honeybee genetics; a discussion on genetic diversity and genetic vulnerability; and cross cutting issues related to genetic resources and Tribes.

All NGRAC meetings are open to the public, and Matthew Dillon of Seed Matters, who is a “general public member” according to the NGRAC website, has been posting about it all over social media. There is, for example, a photograph of bee insemination that those of our readers who are on Facebook might find irresistible. I for one found this Instagram offering interesting:

Robust discussion today. Diversity is complex, of course. #seed #genetics #agriculture

A photo posted by Seed Matters (@seed_matters) on Nov 9, 2015 at 3:17pm PST

I wish I’d been there to fight the corner of “number of varieties” as a way of measuring genetic diversity and vulnerability. Problematic, sure, but useless? That seems harsh. If nothing else, the hunt for lost (or maybe lost) heirloom varieties has great resonance with the public.

November 10, 2015November 11, 2015

Nibbles: Apple duo, Biofortified lentil, Wild sweet potatoes, African supermarkets, Trees on farms, Botanic gardens history, Funny honey, Spice trade, Byzantine bread, Seed longevity, Edible wilds

In remembrance of apples past.
What makes for an “outstanding lentil“?
Sweet potatoes finally get a taste of the wild.
A tree for every season: ICRAF pushing trees both local and exotic.
Can Zambian supermarkets support local farmers AND make money? Should get some of those tree products in there.
Touring the oldest botanical gardens would make for a great round-the-world trip.
Though I’d probably want to add a quick diversion to taste hallucinogenic honey in Nepal.
‘Twas pepper built Venice. That and bread.
Defence-related genes important in seed longevity.
What the heck are microgreens? And will they be discussed at the International Symposium on Biodiversity and Edible Wild Species in Turkey next November?

November 9, 2015November 9, 2015

Brainfood: Wild barley diversity double, Sesame diversity, Coconut genome size, Giant anteater, Sucking mangoes, Teff development, PhilRice, Korean soybeans, Coffee forest management, Switchgrass diversity, Yam diversity

Analysis of Correlations Between Climate and Molecular Adaptive Evolution of Wild Barley with Geographical Information Systems (GIS). Some genes are associated with climatic variables in wild barley, others not so much.
Molecular Genotyping of Historical Barley Landraces Reveals Novel Candidate Regions for Local Adaption. Latitudinal structuring in northern European barley landraces down to 7 SNPs. Not clear if related to above.
Morphological and genetic diversity assessment of sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) accessions differing in origin. Not much geographic structure.
Ploidy and domestication are associated with genome size variation in Palms. Tall coconuts show more variation in genome size than dwarfs.
Protected areas effectiveness in maintaining viable giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla) populations in an agricultural frontier. I just wanted to link to a paper on the giant anteater.
Genetic Diversity in Seedling Populations of Mango. What exactly are “sucking purposes”?
Diversifying crops for food and nutrition security — a case of teff. Hipsters will save orphan crops.
Conservation of Rice Genetic Resources for Food Security. In the Philippines genebank, that is.
Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merrill]: Importance as A Crop and Pedigree Reconstruction of Korean Varieties. 168 of 178 varieties released in the last 100 years in Korea can be traced to 4 pedigrees.
In-situ Conservation of wild forest coffee — Exploring the potential of participatory forest management in south west Ethiopia. It’s the communities, stupid.
Switchgrass Germplasm Resources. Upland and lowland ecotypes, different ploidy levels, latitudinal differentiation, and a national collection at USDA to play with.
Participatory evaluation of Guinea yam (Dioscorea cayenensis Lam.–D. rotundata Poir. complex) landraces from Benin and agro-morphological characterization of cultivars tolerant to drought, high soil moisture and chips storage insects. 5-15% of over 400 varieties (including duplications) are good for one thing or another.

November 2, 2015November 2, 2015

Brainfood: Wild maize, Elderberry phenolics, Barley & boron, Land sparing trifecta, Sustainable diets, Chinese apple diversity, Turkish okra diversity, Barcoding yams, Plant diversity levels, Biotic velocity

Presence of Zea luxurians (Durieu and Ascherson) Bird in Southern Brazil: Implications for the Conservation of Wild Relatives of Maize. Well there’s a turnup for the books.
Fruit Phenolic Composition of Different Elderberry Species and Hybrids. Some interspecific hybrids have high phenolics levels.
Diversity in boron toxicity tolerance of Australian barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) genotypes. There’s variation beyond the 4 known boron tolerance loci.
Agriculture and the threat to biodiversity in Sub-Saharan Africa. Intensification is good for biodiversity, but not yet.
Land for Food & Land for Nature? The former, according to modelling. But it depends. See above.
Wildlife-friendly farming increases crop yield: evidence for ecological intensification. Trifecta!
Is a Cardio-Protective Diet Sustainable? A Review of the Synergies and Tensions Between Foods That Promote the Health of the Heart and the Planet. Yes, but it will take some work.
Genetic diversity of Malus cultivars and wild relatives in the Chinese National Repository of Apple Germplasm Resources. The varieties from the former Soviet republics and Japan are different to each other and to the canonical European/North American/Chinese material.
Genetic and phenotypic variation of Turkish Okra (Abelmoschus esculentus L. Moench) accessions and their possible relationship with American, Indian and African germplasms. Turkish okra comes from all over the place.
DNA barcoding of the main cultivated yams and selected wild species in the genus Dioscorea. 16/21 species I guess is a start.
Plant responses to climatic extremes: within-species variation equals among-species variation. For a bunch of European grassland plants, within species variation in response to climate was as high as that among species.
Biotic and Climatic Velocity Identify Contrasting Areas of Vulnerability to Climate Change. Tropical species can’t move fast enough.

October 30, 2015

Nibbles: EATx Cali, Gourds, Armenian wine, Wheat chemistry, Genomics of domestication, Soybean breeding

Svalbard among things being discussed at EATx Cali today. Who knows, maybe other genebanks too?
The cucumber’s wilder relatives.
Armenian wine going back to the future.
Whole grains deconstructed.
Unpicking domestication in chickens and cattle. And the original paper on the latter, featuring the aurochs genome.
Breeders have bred omega-3 alpha-linolenic acid (ALA) out of soybeans, but are now going back to wild relatives to breed it back in.