Genetic diversity

January 6, 2015

Nibbles: Eggplant, Potato seeds, Survey report

Let’s take this nice and slow …

A history of the eggplant, and its usurpation. Is that even a word?
The fun to be had from a few true ~~friends~~ potato seeds.
It’s out! “Lessons learned about ways and means to conserve and use genetic diversity to build resilience to climate change in food and agriculture systems survey report” (PDF)

December 15, 2014November 28, 2014

Brainfood: Teak origins, Rice diversity, Urban ag, Mapping anthropogenic pressure, Fungal divesity, Bitter cucumber

Genetic resources of teak (Tectona grandis Linn. f.)—strong genetic structure among natural populations. Centre of diversity in semi-moist eastern coast of India and in Myanmar.
Analysis of Genetic Diversity and Population Structure of Rice Germplasm from North-Eastern Region of India and Development of a Core Germplasm Set. 10% of 7000 very diverse accessions recovers 99.9% of allelic diversity.
Global assessment of urban and peri-urban agriculture: irrigated and rainfed croplands. Urban croplands represent 6% of total. No word on what percentage of genetic diversity, but I bet more than 6%.
Satellite Earth observation data to identify anthropogenic pressures in selected protected areas. Some data can be used to identify some pressures.
Global diversity and geography of soil fungi. Climatic factors are key, but look at the diagram.
Biosynthesis, regulation, and domestication of bitterness in cucumber. So that Dutch breeder, who Jeremy always mentions, who once tasted 10,000 cucumber cotyledons in his quest to breed a nice-tasting one, would not have to do so now. Which is a pity.

December 12, 2014December 11, 2014

Nibbles: Svalbard recruitment, Barley breeding video, Orphan crops breeding, Agroforestry double, Afghan pomegranate, Australian hazlenut, DivSeek video, Raspberry breeding video, Strawberry fungi, OFSP, Genebanks, Old chiles, Mexican cuisine, Shakesperean sallat, Dietary diversity, Seed exchange, European wild animals, Dutch AnGR, UK indicators, Millets promotion, Wheat extravaganza, Deforestation map, Chickens & turkeys, Ancient horses, Kenyan grass, Olive pests, Penang anniversary

Sorry about the light blogging lately. I’m on leave and Jeremy is in the manure. Thankfully Robert has been picking up the slack lately, apparently because he has nothing better to do. Anyway, here’s a juicy roundup of Nibbles covering the past week and more. Starting with this stunner: Svalbard needs an adviser!
Breeding better barley: The video. No videos, however, on breeding Africa’s orphan crops. Yet.
Some of those are agroforestry species. Which is not confined to Africa, of course. But pomegranate is not included, alas for the Afghans. Nor the hazlenut, alas for the Australians, who will however admittedly probably sequence the thing themselves.)
DivSeek does have a video, though.
Even raspberry breeding has a video. But if this strawberry hack works for other plants, breeders might not be needed at all :)
Orange-fleshed sweet potato folks meet in Ghana for annual jamboree.
An insurance policy for agriculture? Yes, you guessed it.
Recovering the NM chile. Hot stuff from a cold place. Yes, you guessed it. Again. (BTW, not only important in New Mexico.
How to make a 17th century sallat. You heard me.
CIAT on getting ahead of dietary trends. No, not from the 17th century. This being the current situation, however. And more specifically for dietary diversity among women. Yes, it’s all about diversification. Including in homegardens. Which were the great love of the great, late Olga Linares.
The benefits would be so great to get nutrition right. And yet we haven’t. And without Olga it’s not going to be any easier. Maybe we could start by curing Indians of their pizza habit.
The largest seed exchange in the world. It says here. There I was thinking it was the CGIAR genebanks.
Rewilding Europe. Kinda sorta.
The Dutch have new policies on conserving livestock genetic resources. At least yaks are not an issue.
Meanwhile, the UK biodiversity indicators include one on crop genetic diversity.
Maybe all it needs is better marketing, like these millets?
Or perhaps a data portal, like wheat’s.
Which may soon be out of date for the Punjab. Or should be, anyway, according to this IFPRI study. And also for the US, according to this maverick breeder getting a writeup in the NY Times.
Be that as it may, help is on the way for wheat, in the form of its wild relatives. According to some people who should know.
Interactive global deforestation map. Because we can.
Black chicken? And why not? Not Icelandic, though, I’m willing to bet. Chickens? “…it was the forced opening of China by the West in the 1840s that made the modern [chicken] possible.” Not so the turkey, though.
Ancient horse breeders liked spots. And then they didn’t. And then they did…
Disease resistant Napier grass in Kenya. Must ask the mother-in-law whether she has some.
Oh dear, Italian olives are in trouble. Again. Ah, yes, the olive, symbol of peace.
Penang Botanic Gardens has a big birthday.
Hope that keeps you going for a while…

December 11, 2014

European on farm diversification

In my previous post on the new EU Common Agricultural Policy, I missed that it promotes in situ conservation of crops. At least that is my reading of Annex IX, which provides a list of practices equivalent to crop diversification. The text is a bit confusing (why are legal documents never clear?); here’s an excerpt (my bolding):

Crop Diversification
Requirement: at least three crops, the main crop covering a maximum of 75%, and any one or more of the following applying:
— there is a more appropriate selection of crops, such as, for example, leguminous, protein crops, crops not requiring irrigation or pesticide treatments, as appropriate,
— regional varieties of old, traditional or endangered crop types are included on at least 5% of the rotated area.

The ‘and‘ does not make sense, and should surely be ‘or‘? Otherwise there would be no ‘equivalency.’

Perhaps it is a European thing to emphasize the old & traditional over the novel & rare? Either way, there are busy times to come for European on farm conservation buffs! But where should interested farmers get seed? Many of these varieties may not be registered, and I thought that exchanging such seed was not legal in Europe?

December 8, 2014July 28, 2021

Brainfood: Garden pollinators, Herbarium Analytics, Rice & nutrients, High altitude barley, Sunflower hybrids, Coconut pollen cryo, Evolution & dormancy, Evolution of C4, Maize landraces, Viruses

Culturally valuable minority crops provide a succession of floral resources for flower visitors in traditional orchard gardens. Proper gardens better for pollinators than unmanaged plots.
Trends in access of plant biodiversity data revealed by Google Analytics. No impact of social media on the use of plant data, and the future is mobiles.
Worldwide Genetic Diversity for Mineral Element Concentrations in Rice Grain. Most, though not all, elements showed high heritability, which is good news for breeders.
Agriculture facilitated permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau after 3600 BP. No barley, no Tibetans.
Seed fates in crop-wild hybrid sunflowers: crop allele and maternal effects. Having wild mothers helps wild-crop hybrids survive in the wild.
Coconut (Cocos nucifera l.) pollen cryopreservation. Eureka!
The evolution of seed dormancy: environmental cues, evolutionary hubs, and diversification of the seed plants. More dormancy, more speciation.
The evolutionary ecology of C4 plants. C4 opens new niches, but it’s all a matter of contingency and you have to follow the whole evolutionary history of a group to understand its current ecological strategy.
A Minor Role for Environmental Adaptation in Local–Scale Maize Landrace Distribution: Results from a Common Garden Experiment in Oaxaca, Mexico. It’s the social factors, stupid.
Crop immunity against viruses: outcomes and future challenges. PAMP (pathogen-associated molecular patterns)-triggered immunity (PTI) may be the future.