Genetic diversity

November 7, 2019November 6, 2019

One-man root and tuber breeding show comes to town

Welcome to Cultivariable! My name is William Whitson and I breed plants. Cultivariable is my business, where I sell the plants that I breed and, miraculously, seem to be making a living at it. I breed plants for fun, because I am interested in discovering the possibilities. I’m not changing the world here. My discoveries are not going to feed the starving masses, save us from climate change, or expand the frontiers of science, but they might feed you if you grow them. This is mostly a one-man show, meaning that I do everything from weeding to stuffing envelopes alongside the actual breeding work.

William also put together a pretty nice website, from which you can order his stuff. Particularly impressive is his single-minded determination of fully characterize the USDA potato collection. Well worth supporting.

November 6, 2019November 6, 2019

Nibbles: Root & tuber breeding, Potato fun, Melon domestication, Maize conservation, Millet diversification, Business as usual

A backyard breeder evaluates USDA’s potato accessions. Among other things.
The Onion roasts potatoes.
How melons got sweet.
Mexican Senate considers in situ/on farm conservation areas for maize.
Millets for climate change resilience in India.
Business for biodiversity. Yeah, right.

November 4, 2019September 29, 2020

Brainfood: Tree SDM, TR4 in Colombia, Genebanks double, Pacific ag, Gums, Defaunation, Oil palm, Agroforestry, Moldy cheese, Ecosystem services, Meat, Desert ag, Maize evolution

Species distribution modelling to support forest management. A literature review. Embrace the uncertainty.
First report of Fusarium wilt Tropical Race 4 in Cavendish bananas caused by Fusarium odoratissimum in Colombia. Inevitable.
Seed Banking as Future Insurance Against Crop Collapses. “Although the basic technology of seed- (gene-)banking is relatively simple, there are nonetheless significant costs involved in effectively managing seed- (gene-)bank collections.” Elevator pitch desperately needed.
Rapid loss of seed viability in ex situ conserved wheat and barley at 4°C as compared to −20°C storage. Colder the better.
Origin and Development of Agriculture in New Guinea, Island Melanesia and Polynesia. Maybe 5-6 distinct stages since 7000 BP.
Exotic eucalypts: From demonized trees to allies of tropical forest restoration? Maybe.
Quantifying the impacts of defaunation on natural forest regeneration in a global meta-analysis. Forests need vertebrates. No word on where eucalypts stand.
Market-mediated responses confound policies to limit deforestation from oil palm expansion in Malaysia and Indonesia. Bans are not enough…
The ‘Capitalist Squeeze’ and the Rise and Fall of Sumatra’s Krui Agroforests. …you need active forest conservation too.
Rapid Phenotypic and Metabolomic Domestication of Wild Penicillium Molds on Cheese. Wild molds adapt to cheese, can eventually make camembert.
A global synthesis reveals biodiversity-mediated benefits for crop production. Need species richness for pollination, biological pest control and final yields.
Animal source foods: Sustainability problem or malnutrition and sustainability solution? Perspective matters. Let them eat meat.
The vitality of fruit trees in ancient Bedouin orchards in the Arid Negev Highlands (Israel): Implications of climatic change and environmental stability. Recycling centuries-old infrastructure in the desert.
The Genomic Basis for Short-Term Evolution of Environmental Adaptation in Maize. Significant shift in adaptation of tropical landrace to temperate conditions in 10 generations with little loss of genetic diversity.

November 1, 2019November 5, 2019

Genebanks everywhere on NPR

Just realized that my last two stories involved gene banks. Shouldn't there be some sort of award for that?

— Dan Charles (@DanCharlesNow) October 31, 2019

I’m all for it, but judge for yourselves. Here are the two stories involved:

From Culinary Dud To Stud: How Dutch Plant Breeders Built Our Brussels Sprouts Boom. By looking into their genebanks, of course, to find less bitter varieties.
Most U.S. Dairy Cows Are Descended From Just 2 Bulls. That’s Not Good. But fortunately there’s heritage semen in the fridge.

October 28, 2019December 13, 2019

Brainfood: Ecosystem services, Farmer Variety protection, Pineapple genome, Almond genome, Date palm genome, Sesame diversity, Frangmentation double, Alternative beans, AI & farmers, De-domestication

Global modeling of nature’s contributions to people. Declining where the need is greatest. And that’s not even taking CWR into account.
Farmer’s Varieties in India – Factors affecting their preferential prevalence and the current status of their legal protection. Open-pollinated crops are missing out.
The bracteatus pineapple genome and domestication of clonally propagated crops. Domestication and early improvement as the result of a single clonal propagation event.
Transposons played a major role in the diversification between the closely related almond and peach genomes: Results from the almond genome sequence. Including the sweet kernel phenotype.
Genome-wide association mapping of date palm fruit traits. Fruit color and sugar composition changed in parallel.
Genetic diversity and population structure of the Mediterranean sesame core collection with use of genome-wide SNPs developed by double digest RAD-Seq. Three genetic groups, but not geographically based.
Ongoing accumulation of plant diversity through habitat connectivity in an 18-year experiment. You need those corridors.
Meta‐analysis of the differential effects of habitat fragmentation and degradation on plant genetic diversity. You really do.
In search of alternative proteins: unlocking the potential of underutilized tropical legumes. Beyond soybeans. I always liked Bambara groundnut.
A scalable scheme to implement data-driven agriculture for small-scale farmers. Fancy maths put to some good use in Colombia. But what if it tells you to grow more coca?
The evolution of crops that do not need us anymore. They’re called weeds.