- A New Methodological Approach to Detect Microcenters and Regions of Maize Genetic Diversity in Different Areas of Lowland South America. Multiple disciplines identify 4 microcenters of maize diversity in the lowlands of South America.
- Historical Routes for Diversification of Domesticated Chickpea Inferred from Landrace Genomics. Genomics identifies both Indian and Middle Eastern traces in Ethiopian chickpeas.
- Crop wild relatives in Lebanon: mapping the distribution of Poaceae and Fabaceae priority taxa for conservation planning. Spatial analysis identifies a couple of key ex situ and in situ conservation areas for CWR in Lebanon.
- Analysis of gaps in rapeseed (Brassica napus L.) collections in European genebanks. Spatial analysis identifies a few key ex situ and in situ conservation areas for rapeseed wild relatives in Europe.
- Genomic and population characterization of a diversity panel of dwarf and tall coconut accessions from the International Coconut Genebank for Latin America and Caribbean. Characterization of various sorts identifies different Atlantic and Pacific coconut genepools in the Western Hemisphere.
- Pleistocene-dated genomic divergence of avocado trees supports cryptic diversity in the Colombian germplasm. Genomics identifies a uniquely Colombian avocado genepool.
- Analysis of >3400 worldwide eggplant accessions reveals two independent domestication events and multiple migration-diversification routes. Genomics identifies separate Southeast Asia and Indian areas of domestication, and limited exchange between them.
- Population genomics identifies genetic signatures of carrot domestication and improvement and uncovers the origin of high-carotenoid orange carrots. Genomics identifies wester-central Asia as the area of carrot domestication in the Early Middle Ages, and western Europe as the place where the orange variant was selected in the Renaissance.
- A Citrullus genus super-pangenome reveals extensive variations in wild and cultivated watermelons and sheds light on watermelon evolution and domestication. Pangenomics identifies a gene in wild Kordofan melons as promoting the accumulation of sugar in watermelon.
- Pangenome analysis provides insight into the evolution of the orange subfamily and a key gene for citric acid accumulation in citrus fruits. Pangenomics identifies south central China as the primary centre of origin of the genus Citrus.
- Pangenome analyses reveal impact of transposable elements and ploidy on the evolution of potato species. Pangenomics identifies wild species from North and Central America as having lots of genes for abiotic stress response, but also fewer transposable elements.
- Pangenomic analysis identifies structural variation associated with heat tolerance in pearl millet. Pangenomics identifies the key genes and structural variations associated with pearl millet accessions from the most hot and dry places.
- Dark side of the honeymoon: reconstructing the Asian x European rose breeding history through the lens of genomics. Genomics and other data identifies a shift from a European to a mainly Asian genetic background in cultivated roses during the 19th century, leading to a narrowing of genetic diversity.
Nibbles: Heirloom mixology, Renaissance breeding, Heirloom watermelon, Heirloom apples, British horses, Ancient grapes & wine, Potato cryo, Arboretum, Svalbard Global Seed Vault, Rice breeding
- A self-described seed mixologist calls for a science fiction, rather than historical, approach to growing heirloom varieties. Excellent reading.
- The Renaissance approach to genetic mixology explained in a new book The Perfection of Nature.
- Sometimes, though, you just want a good old watermelon.
- Or a good old apple.
- Or indeed ‘the Swiss army knife of equines.’
- Or you want to know what ancient people ate and drank.
- So it’s a good thing we have genebanks, genebanks, genebanks…
- Including for rice.
Nibbles: Community seedbanks everywhere, USDA genebanks, Public sector plant breeding, Salinity tolerance, Food systems transformation
- Community seedbanks are so big in Zimbabwe that international NGOs are jumping on the bandwagon.
- More from the Cherokee Nation Seed Bank, very much a friend of the blog. International NGOs unavailable for comment.
- Community seedbanks are also in the news in Mexico.
- And in Peru, of course. Oh, here’s a nice video from Peru on Andean roots and tubers, courtesy of CIP, since we’re here.
- Indonesia too, you say? Yeah, why not.
- How to protect genebank collections from climate change, courtesy of USDA. Community seedbanks please take note.
- Who’s going to use all that diversity? Well public sector plant breeders of course.
- Yes, even plant breeders working on Salicornia.
- But how much of the 6 trillion dollars needed for food systems transformation is going to go to genebanks and plant breeding?
Nibbles: China seeds, Dixie apples, USDA genebanks, ASU dates, IPR, IFG grapes, Pick-a-mix, Coffee ESG, French heirlooms, Belgian brewing, Tanzanian sorghum, Horse-bread, Roots & tubers, Guyana cassava, SDG indicators
- China announces a slew of seed-related measures.
- A slew of seeds kept apples diverse in the US South, but not so much any more.
- Fortunately there’s a slew of apples, among many other things, in the USDA genebank system.
- Dates too, probably, but this article is actually about the (complementary?) collection at Arizona State University.
- A slew of intellectual protections has been good for seed companies. But consumers?
- IFG no doubts benefits mightily from intellectual property protection of its grape varieties. The diversity of which you can peruse on this nice website.
- Speaking of nice websites, this one helps farmers pick-a-mix of crops. Intercropping is diversity too.
- How the coffee industry is trying to cope with a slew of sustainability rules. Yeah, sometimes IP protection is not enough.
- But who owns heritage varieties?
- Including heritage varieties of Belgian malting barley and other cereals.
- Speaking of malting, they use sorghum in Tanzania.
- It’s unclear what heritage varieties went into making horse-bread, but I’d like to taste the stuff.
- But who needs bread (or beer?) anyway? There’s a slew of root and tuber crops in Africa and elsewhere just waiting to solve hunger…
- …as Guyana knows well.
- Wanna keep track of (most of) the above? FAO has you (sorta) covered via a slew of indicators.
Rice everywhere
Jeremy’s latest Eat This Newsletter has three — count them — pieces on rice. Here’s one of them. Do check out the others too though.
Rice by Any Other Name
Sometimes, I read an article and I marvel at the erudition it contains even when I cannot fully understand it. So it was with Deepa Reddy’s deep dive into Rice names & Memory work. She makes a strong case for the importance of names that describe Indian farmer varieties of rice and tell us more about them, but of course without any familiarity for the language much of the story was lost on me. One tidbit I picked up on: “Njavara with its potent medicinal value is ‘wild water grass,’ like the ‘Nivara’ of the old texts.” Oryza nivara is one of rice’s closest wild relatives. Is Njavara that wild relative, or a cultivar that resembles, or something else entirely?
The article contains a lot more in the intersection of agriculture, anthropology and ethnography and one bit that I hope to see explored further. The rice festival on which Deepa Reddy reported included a demonstration of the importance of memorisation to oral tradition, “by having a few young children recite, from top-to-bottom and entirely from memory, all the hundred-odd names of rices revived, conserved, and now grown in Tamil Nadu by local farmers”. She goes on to say:
Such memory practices and names do a lot more than just remind and entice; they help us understand the still vast array of heritage rices by telling us something about them, helping us to get to know them, remember them, choose between them, and by such methods safeguard them for all the time to come.
Yes, but what are the mnemonics that the children use? A memory palace for rice?