- Identification and diversity of Y‐chromosome haplotypes in Qinghai yak populations. 2 paternal lineages but weak genetic structure among the 9 populations and 3 breeds.
- Development and characterization of Triticum turgidum–Aegilops umbellulata amphidiploids. A bridge to bread wheat.
- Variation in total root length and root diameter of wild and cultivated lentil grown under drought and re-watered conditions. Some wild species have longer total root length under drought stress than crops. No word on whether bridges needed.
- The Peril of Gene-Targeted Conservation. Only warranted when said targeted genes are important for viability and have large phenotypic effects. Suspect crop breeders (see above) may beg to differ.
- Conservation of biodiversity in the genomics era. Need to target the whole genome, I guess.
- “What Matters Is Species Richness” — High School Students’ Understanding of the Components of Biodiversity. Must try harder.
- What Conservation Does. The right things, more or less, and not at all badly, so stop complaining.
- Absence of evidence for the conservation outcomes of systematic conservation planning around the globe: a systematic map. It’s not evidence of absence of conservation outcomes, but still. Maybe should get together with the above?
- East African diploid and triploid bananas: a genetic complex transported from South-East Asia. All introduced by Austronesian people, probably via Madagascar, but no longer to be found in Asia (much).
- Molecular and Cytogenetic Study of East African Highland Banana. Focuses on one of the 4 groups discussed in the above (Mutika). All derived from maybe a single hybrid clone.
- Sources of resistance to Xanthomonas campestris pv. musacearum, the causal agent of banana Xanthomonas wilt. Why bother with the above, you ask?
- Genetic diversity of day-neutral converted landrace Gossypium hirsutum L. accessions. Eastern and western hemisphere groups, with US varieties closer to the eastern.
- Crop Domestication Alters Floral Reward Chemistry With Potential Consequences for Pollinator Health. In highbush blueberry, domestication has decreased the chemical diversity of nectar and pollen, possibly increasing infection by bee gut pathogens.
- Ancient DNA analysis of Scandinavian medieval drinking horns and the horn of the last aurochs bull. Aurochs interbred with domestic cattle way back. In other news, you can extract aurochs DNA from medieval Scandinavian drinking horns.
- The USDA cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) collection: genetic diversity, population structure, genome-wide association studies, and core collection development. Three groups, more or less: India, E. Asia, and everything else. A third of 1200 accessions recovers 96% of variation.
- Rapid improvement of domestication traits in an orphan crop by genome editing. Tomato orthologues in groundcherry mutated for more fruits and better plant architecture.
- Domestication of wild tomato is accelerated by genome editing. Or you can do it with the actual tomato genes. As suggested a couple of years ago.
Brainfood: Forests & diets, Homegardens & diets, Landsparing, NZ megafauna, Broomcorn millet origins, Aflatoxin in peanut, Sorghum nutrients, Sorghum & sugarcane diversity in Ethiopia, Hawaiian seedsaving, English sustainability, Wheat evaluation, Lentil review, Danish apples
- Impacts of forests on children’s diet in rural areas across 27 developing countries. Exposure to forests is good for dietary diversity.
- The Role of Homegardens for Food and Nutrition Security in Uganda. Homegardens too.
- The challenge of feeding the world while conserving half the planet. Sparing biodiversity-rich areas means food production will take a hit.
- Human Perceptions of Megafaunal Extinction Events Revealed by Linguistic Analysis of Indigenous Oral Traditions. The Maori were aware of what was happening to the moa.
- Perpetuating Agricultural Heritage: Saving Seeds and Stories on Hawai‘i Island. Diverse messaging needed to reflect diverse motivations. Maybe that would have helped the moa.
- Genetic evidence for a western Chinese origin of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum). Not northern China, nor eastern Europe.
- New tools to screen wild peanut species for aflatoxin accumulation and genetic fingerprinting. Let the screening begin.
- Identification of new donors for spot blotch resistance in cultivated wheat germplasm. 7 out of 1483 from the Indian collection. Hard row to hoe
- Nutritional variation in sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] accessions from southern Africa revealed by protein and mineral composition. Among 23 accessions, two are good for both Fe and Zn, a different one for protein, Ca and P, and a different one still for Ca and K.
- Farmers’ synergistic selection criteria and practices for livelihood security through the sustainable uses of onfarm Sorghum landrace diversity, Ethiopia. Diverse selection criteria reflect diverse uses.
- Sugarcane Landraces of Ethiopia: Germplasm Collection and Analysis of Regional Diversity and Distribution. Variation follows altitude. Compare and contrast with above.
- To what extent has sustainable intensification in England been achieved? Not much, and only quite recently.
- Lentils: Genetic Resources: Collection, Conservation, Characterization and Maintenance. More work on wild relatives needed.
- Population structure, relatedness and ploidy levels in an apple gene bank revealed through genotyping-by-sequencing. 78% of 349 apple accessions in the Danish genebank are unique.
Brainfood: Impact, Dietary guidelines, Diversity & diet, Wild cotton, Wild soybean, Italian rice & apples, Holstein genebank, Sugarcane evaluation, Quinoa boom, Bean landrace double, Brazilian fruits, Habitat restoration, Mixtures & pests
- Systematic review of the effects of agricultural interventions on food security in northern Ghana. The effects are minimal in the few cases where they have been measured.
- Food and nutrient gaps in rural Northern Ghana: Does production of smallholder farming households support adoption of food-based dietary guidelines? No, especially for vegetables, so another example of the above. Also, diversity of household production positively correlated with food and nutrient coverage but neither with children’s dietary diversity and nutrient adequacy.
- Farm-Level Agricultural Biodiversity in the Peruvian Andes Is Associated with Greater Odds of Women Achieving a Minimally Diverse and Micronutrient Adequate Diet. Associated.
- Natural Variation in Wild Gossypium Species as a Tool to Broaden the Genetic Base of Cultivated Cotton. Cotton needs an infusion of diversity.
- Wild Soybeans: An Opportunistic Resource for Soybean Improvement. As above, but time is running out because the wild relatives are often weedy.
- Evolutionary trends and phylogenetic association of key morphological traits in the Italian rice varietal landscape. Again, likely shrinking, but for different reasons.
- Genetic characterization of the apple germplasm collection in Central Italy: the value of local varieties. 25 duplicates among 175 accessions from 10 collections. How many are still in orchards?
- Value of the Dutch Holstein Friesian germplasm collection to increase genetic variability and improve genetic merit. More useful to increase genetic diversity than value.
- Identification and Evaluation of Resistance to Sugarcane Streak Mosaic Virus (SCSMV) and Sorghum Mosaic Virus (SrMV) in Excellent Sugarcane Innovation Germplasms in China. Some are more excellent than others.
- The quinoa boom in Peru: Will land competition threaten sustainability in one of the cradles of agriculture? Looks like it.
- Recovery of a common bean landrace (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) for commercial purposes. Spain’s “Caparrona de Monzón”, to be precise. Interesting, but surely a challenge to scale up. No fear of a Caparrona Boom, I suspect.
- The Nutritional Content of Common Bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) Landraces in Comparison to Modern Varieties. Some are better. No word on whether the above approach will be tried on these beans in Turkey.
- Fruits of the Brazilian Atlantic Forest: allying biodiversity conservation and food security. Plinia edulis looks like it might be worth a try, Campomanesia hirsuta maybe not so much.
- Restoring to the future: Environmental, cultural, and management trade‐offs in historical versus hybrid restoration of a highly modified ecosystem. Hybrid (native + exotic plants) is better than nothing.
- Pest suppression in cultivar mixtures is influenced by neighbor‐specific plant‐plant communication. Volatiles from one barley genotype can lead to aphid suppression on neighbours of a different genotype.
Nibbles: Lumnezia, Wild apples, Pistachio, Coconut conservation, Tenant farming, Wild cow, Why genotype, Chicken controversy, Blueberry blues
- The ever-dependable Roads & Kingdoms on a very special Swiss cheese.
- The ever-dependable Mongabay on Kyrgyz apple forests.
- The ever-dependable Simran Sethi on how the California pistachio industry got it’s start.
- The ever-dependable Bioversity with a global strategy for the conservation of coconut genetic diversity.
- The ever-dependable Twitter…no wait. Thread on why farmers with a bigger share in their output produce more.
- A cow wild relative in Myanmar.
- Carolina Sansaloni of CIMMYT on genotyping genebank collections.
- Are chickens “rescuing mute, passive non-Western women”?
- Blueberries are in all kinds of trouble.
Brainfood: NUS crackers, Genomic prediction, Chicken double, Wild German celery, Cretan sheep, Boricua papaya, Sorghum breeding, Wheat breeding, Italian carrots, Mining barley, Onion review, Fertilizers
- Development of value-added nutritious crackers with high antidiabetic properties from blends of Acha (Digitaria exilis) and blanched Pigeon pea (Cajanus cajan). Putting orphan crops to work.
- A deep convolutional neural network approach for predicting phenotypes from genotypes. Artificial intelligence applied to genomic selection. Sexy enough for you?
- Genomic diversity dynamics in conserved chicken populations are revealed by genome-wide SNPs. Gotta watch those effective population sizes.
- Chicken semen cryopreservation and use for the restoration of rare genetic resources. Maybe a way to help with the above?
- Patterns of Genetic Diversity and Implications for In Situ Conservation of Wild Celery (Apium graveolens L. ssp. graveolens). 15 Most Appropriate Wild Populations out of 78. Still seems like a lot.
- Challenges for local breed management in Mediterranean dairy sheep farming: insights from Central Greece. Conservation through cross-breeding. But how long can it last?
- Genetic Diversity of Puerto Rican Farmer-held Papaya (Carica papaya) Using SSR Markers. I wonder how many are left after Maria.
- Breeding Sorghum for Diverse End Uses: Genetic Improvement of Grain Sorghum. More germplasm could be used.
- Harnessing genetic potential of wheat germplasm banks through impact-oriented-prebreeding for future food and nutritional security. Getting impact from “exotic” germplasm is possible. To be clear, I think that just means wild stuff.
- BiodiverSO: A Case Study of Integrated Project to Preserve the Biodiversity of Vegetable Crops in Puglia (Southern Italy). Saving the Polignano carrot.
- Genomics Approaches to Mining Barley Germplasm Collections. Management, cores, history. But we knew that.
- Allium Genetic Resources. Significant progress in data availability, cryopreservation protocols, health status and levels of evaluation. Maybe acquisition and exchange could be increased?
- Review: Taking stock of Africa’s second-generation agricultural input subsidy programs. 80 studies from 7 countries show that helping smallholders obtain fertilisers gives rapid but short-term and lower-than-expected increases in production. One reason is that yields don’t respond to fertilisation as much as they should. Is it because it’s mainly landraces?