History

May 14, 2019May 14, 2019

It’s Meyer time!

There’s nothing on the website yet, but it looks like Dr Tom Payne, genebank manager at CIMMYT, has been awarded the Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources for 2019. This is richly deserved. Congratulations to Tom, who joins a very illustrious club.

Tom will no doubt celebrate in the newly refurbished lobby of the genebank.

This morning at @CIMMYT's HQ, we inaugurated the new lobby of the Wellhausen-Anderson Plant Genetic Resources Center.
The multi-disciplinary team that led this revamp has truly honored the maize and wheat diversity safeguarded in the genebank. pic.twitter.com/bWN33zrRRR

— MartinKropff (@KropffMartin) April 26, 2019

May 8, 2019May 21, 2019

Nibbles: Dog & bone, Giant maize, Edible Archive, Myanmar diversification, Colombian community seedbank, Sorghum grande, Coconut exhibit, Chinese ag history, African domestication, Japanese citrus, RivieraLigure DOP, Cactus candy, Hazelnut resistance, American crop rethinks, Public sector engagement

Nice synthesis of dog (and chicken) domestication.
Saving the Jala maize landrace in Mexico.
Saving lots of rice landraces in India by eating them.
Myanmar does not live by rice alone. And neither does India.
Saving a whole bunch of stuff in Colombia.
Saving a sorghum wild relative in Australia.
How coconuts can help museums decolonize.
Maybe agricultural development needs to decolonize too. Discuss.
Africa’s Fertile Crescent is the Niger River Basin. Nice, but we saw that coming first.
Citrus is big in Japan.
Olive oil is big in Liguria.
The visnaga cactus was big in the US Southwest once. As an ingredient in candy, of all things.
Breeding filberts in the US.
Tomato 2.0.
And a bunch of other crops American farmers and breeders are having to adapt to climate change.
And not just that, they have to deliver better nutrition too.
Eat what you want, sure. But think what that means for climate change.
Principles for GAIN engaging with the private sector (in all its diversity) on nutrition. Could be applied to engagement on climate change, I suppose, and crop diversity conservation for that matter. My question, though, is: runaway train, or Titanic?

April 29, 2019April 11, 2019

Brainfood: Grazing behaviour, XW, Swedish Neolithic, Apple genome impact, Mango diversity, Blueberry quality, Durum genome, Ancient sorghum, Nordic rye, Tomato flavour, Diets & health, CGIAR & ITPGRFA

An inexpensive and open‐source method to study large terrestrial animal diet and behaviour using time‐lapse video and GPS. GoPro used to figure out what species grazing cows eat throughout the year. Could be useful to gauge forage value of different plants.
The risk posed by Xanthomonas wilt disease of banana: Mapping of disease hotspots, fronts and vulnerable landscapes. Northern Mozambique and central lowland DR Congo are the gateways. Extension is the key.
Maritime Hunter-Gatherers Adopt Cultivation at the Farming Extreme of Northern Europe 5000 Years Ago. Migrating farmers drew the line at Sweden.
Apple whole genome sequences: recent advances and new prospects. Great insights into domestication and diversity of collections. Next step: genomic prediction.
Estimation of genetic diversity and relatedness in a mango germplasm collection using SNP markers and a simplified visual analysis method. The collection at the USDA Subtropical Horticulture Research Station could be half the size.
Haplotype-phased genome and evolution of phytonutrient pathways of tetraploid blueberry. Including candidate genes for fruit quality.
Durum wheat genome highlights past domestication signatures and future improvement targets. Mutation for high cadmium accumulation common in domesticated material, but a variant allowing better growth in zinc-deficient soils and less accumulation available in wild populations.
A domestication history of dynamic adaptation and genomic deterioration in Sorghum. Genomes from archaeological specimens suggest that decrease in diversity over time in sorghum was not due to an initial one-off domestication bottleneck, but rather to repeated sequential founding episodes. Doesn’t seem like much of a difference to me.
Population genetic structure in Fennoscandian landrace rye (Secale cereale L.) spanning 350 years. Just one big happy, old family.
Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies provides insights into genetic control of tomato flavor. Breeders could breed for flavour. But will they?
Health effects of dietary risks in 195 countries, 1990–2017: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2017. People should eat more of the above grains and fruits.
CGIAR Operations under the Plant Treaty Framework. Non-monetary benefits are not to be sneezed at, but all too often are.

April 15, 2019March 29, 2019

Brainfood: Green Revolution, Pear diversity, Spider plant, Mexican maize erosion, Wheat yield, Salty carrots, Salinity tolerance, Diversification, Ancient farmers, Genebank training, Grapevine diversity, Dietary diversity, Wild chickpeas, Hulless barley

From Green Revolution to Green Evolution: A Critique of the Political Myth of Averted Famine. Did not avert famine, but it was still important.
Comparative transcriptomic analysis provides insight into the domestication and improvement of pear (P. pyrifolia) fruit. Much diversity was lost during domestication, but some was gained during improvement, though in different parts of the genome.
Association between vitamin content, plant morphology and geographical origin in a worldwide collection of the orphan crop Gynandropsis gynandra (Cleomaceae). It’s the E and S African stuff you want.
The abandonment of maize landraces over the last 50 years in Morelos, Mexico: a tracing study using a multi-level perspective. Don’t blame the youth.
Elucidating the genetic basis of biomass accumulation and radiation use efficiency in spring wheat and its role in yield potential. Landraces and synthetics can be used to increase yield potential.
Variation for Salinity Tolerance During Seed Germination in Diverse Carrot [Daucus carota (L.)] Germplasm. 4 cultivated accessions from Turkey out of 273 were best, and the wilds were no good, for a change.
Salt stress under the scalpel – dissecting the genetics of salt tolerance. Need to break it down into its component parts. See above for an example, I guess.
Ecological-economic trade-offs of Diversified Farming Systems – A review. Need to take the long view.
Late Pleistocene human genome suggests a local origin for the first farmers of central Anatolia. Until the next one comes along.
Training in Plant Genetic Resources Management: A Way Forward. I hope so.
Whole-genome resequencing of 472 Vitis accessions for grapevine diversity and demographic history analyses. “The network of the domesticated grapevine cultivars is an indication of a highly complicated breeding history of European domesticated grapevines that started thousands of years ago.”
The Minimum Dietary Diversity for Women of Reproductive Age (MDD-W) Indicator Is Related to Household Food Insecurity and Farm Production Diversity: Evidence from Rural Mali. Women from food insecure households less likely to reach MDD-W.
Novel sources of resistance to root-lesion nematode (Pratylenchus thornei) in a new collection of wild Cicer species (C. reticulatum and C. echinospermum) to improve resistance in cultivated chickpea C. arietinum. Goon news for hummus.
Determining factors for the diversity of hulless barley agroecosystem in the Himalaya region — A case study from Northwest Yunnan, China. Religion helps.

April 9, 2019April 9, 2019

Nibbles: Grape breeding, Vanilla breeding, DSI policy, ITPGRFA, Maori taro, Dhofar memories

Marker-assisted breeding in grapes: like skimming through a book looking for key words.
Vanilla genome: going from no-frills vehicle to luxury sportscar.
CGN on what to do to ensure continued access to that book — or car.
A topic which is all the rage right now in the ITPGRFA, on which this is a one-page primer.
14th century Māori grew taro as well as sweet potato.
Great infographics on the fascinating region of Dhofar in southern Oman, in which I collected germplasm many years ago. Great opportunity to reminisce.