Genetic erosion

July 9, 2011July 8, 2011

A call for information on threatened Italian vineyards

I suppose there’s some poetic meaning to the coincidence that it is while I’m travelling in the oldest wine-producing region of the world that I notice on Facebook a call from Slow Food Italia for information on vineyards threatened with destruction. Be that as it may, it will be interesting to see what response Slow Food get, and what use they make of it. We have blogged here on various occasions about the desirability of an early warning system for genetic erosion, and how one might go about setting one up. This might have the makings of one, at least for grapevine in Italy.

July 4, 2011June 30, 2011

Brainfood: Medic systematics, Fruit wine, Alfa paper, Marula diversity, Cardamon pollination, Protein, Ants, Peanuts, Truffles, Ethiopian barley, Citrus diversity, Biofuel trees, Honeybush, Czech garlic

Genetic similarity based on isoenzyme banding pattern among fifty species of Medicago representing eight sections (Fabaceae). People are still using isozymes? I find that oddly endearing.
Preparation and evaluation of antioxidant capacity of Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus Lam.) wine and its protective role against radiation induced DNA damage. In other news, you can make wine from jackfruit.
Pulping and papermaking properties of Tunisian Alfa stems (Stipa tenacissima)—Effects of refining process. Yep, a paper on paper.
Phenotypic variations in fruits and selection potential in Sclerocarya birrea subsp. birrea. There’s a lot of it.
Pollination studies in large cardamom (Amomum subulatum Roxb.) of Sikkim Himalayan region of India. It needs a native bumblebee.
Effect of proteins from different sources on body composition. Hard to be sure, but probably no difference between animal and plant protein. If you’re trying to lose weight, that is.
Ants as biological control agents in agricultural cropping systems. More common than you think, but can’t be taken for granted.
Origin of triploid Arachis pintoi (Leguminosae) by autopolyploidy evidenced by FISH and meiotic behaviour. Maybe that was they key step on the road to the edible peanut.
The biochemistry and biological properties of the world’s most expensive underground edible mushroom: Truffles. Not just a pretty smell.
Ethnobotany, diverse food uses, claimed health benefits and implications on conservation of barley landraces in North Eastern Ethiopia highlands. Landraces “just” liked for culinary qualities are having a hard time.
Comparative analysis of genetic diversity in Citrus germplasm collection using AFLP, SSAP, SAMPL and SSR markers. Boys with toys.
Tree legumes as feedstock for sustainable biofuel production: Opportunities and challenges. Pongamia pinnata is the thing, apparently, but it’ll need research. NIMBY!
Honeybush (Cyclopia spp.): From local cottage industry to global markets — The catalytic and supporting role of research. South African bush tea a blueprint for the development of a neglected/underutilized species? Yeah, why not.
Diversity of S-alk(en)yl cysteine sulphoxide content within a collection of garlic (Allium sativum L.) and its association with the morphological and genetic background assessed by AFLP. Czech genebank follows up Brassica genetic diversity study with one on garlic. SACS is an important end-use trait, and varies among genetic groups.

July 2, 2011

50% is the new 75%

Experts estimate that we have lost more than half of the world’s food varieties over the past century.

Of course we have. And ocas are potatoes.

June 23, 2011June 23, 2011

The future of rice in Mozambique

Readers with long memories who had time on their hands back in January may remember a post we did then on IR80482-64-3-3-3, a new rice tailor-made for Mozambique. There was some discussion at the time about the claims being made in the original SciDevNet piece about the new variety on which we based our post, but what really struck me was this statement:

Work began when the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI), in the Philippines, sent Mozambique 11,200 rice varieties for testing.

That just sounded like quite a lot of varieties, and I remember wondering at the time how long it took the Mozambique national rice programme to get through that little lot. But anyway, I bring this up now not only because someone from IRRI has very kindly left a comment on the original post. But also because IR80482-64-3-3-3 is back in the news, cannily renamed Makassane. The IRRI press release has been widely picked up.

Following the approval of Makassane for release by the Mozambique Variety Release Committee earlier this month, IRRI provided government agencies and farmers “foundation seed” to use in bulking up the seed so that more can be produced and distributed to more farmers.

Two things about this. First, I look forward to regular updates on Makassane’s uptake by farmers. And second, I hope the IRRI and Mozambique national genebanks are confident that they already have good representation of the local landraces. Sophie, who left the aforementioned comment, says there are 76 rice types from Mozambique at IRRI. Genesys gives us just over 120 worldwide, between landraces and wild species, but only a few are geo-referenced (see map).

June 10, 2011June 20, 2011

Wallow Fire (may) threaten (some) wild beans. Maybe.

There’s a really bad fire spreading in Arizona. ((NASA Earth Observatory image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering Center MODIS Direct Broadcast system. Caption by Holli Riebeek.))

You can donwload all kinds of stuff about it, and even post your experiences of it on Facebook. But can you find out whether any crop wild relatives are threatened by it? Well, sure: all you have to do is go off to GBIF, and choose a likely genus (Phaseolus, say), and download the records, and mash them up in Google Earth with the latest fire perimeter data or whatever. ((And can I take this opportunity of thanking Google for the Google Earth license?)) Like I’ve done here:

Coming in closer, and using the NASA GeoTIFF instead of the normal Google Earth imagery, you can put yourself in the position of being able to make some reasonably intelligent guesses about what might be happening to some of these populations, and the genepool as a whole in the area:

But what I really meant is that there ought to be a way to do this automagically, or something. Anyway, it is sobering to reflect that while all hell is breaking loose in Arizona, not that far away to the northeast, in the peaceful surroundings of the Denver Botanical Garden, Anasazi beans are enjoying their day in the sun, utterly oblivious of the mortal threat faced by some of their wild cousins. It’s a cruel world. And there’s a point in all this about the need for complementary conservation strategies that’s just waiting to be made. Isn’t there?