- Phylogeographic and population genetic analyses of Cucurbita moschata reveal divergence of two mitochondrial lineages linked to an elevational gradient. And nuclear genes show there’s a distinct population in Yucatan.
- Advances in cryopreservation of in vitro-derived propagules: technologies and explant sources. Beyond shoot tips.
- Characterization of two leaf rust-resistant Aegilops tauschii accessions for the synthetic wheat development. Hyper-resistant, no less.
- The Genomic Basis for Short-Term Evolution of Environmental Adaptation in Maize. Adaptation of the phenology of tropical types to temperate conditions can happen quickly. So bring in those exotics, they’ll cope soon enough.
- The sequence and de novo assembly of the wild yak genome. Let the intensive yak production systems proliferate.
- Conservation prioritization can resolve the flagship species conundrum. Focusing on 500-odd charismatic mammals, birds and reptiles can account for 80-90% of the species that can be covered in an optimization not constrained by such flagships. But how many CWR? Or, looking at it from the other side, what if CWR were the flagships? Yeah, right, right?
- Spatiotemporal trends in adequacy of dietary nutrient production and food sources. Global production can provide everyone with all nutrients except vitamin A, but 120 countries are not self-sufficient. Another way we’re all interdependent. But at least we have trade. Right?
- First adaptation of quinoa in the Bhutanese mountain agriculture systems. Someone mention interdependence?
- Phenotypic Variation in Leaf Morphology of the USDA, ARS Sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) Germplasm Collection. Everything is Normal.
- Characterization of Globally Important Agricultural Heritage Systems (GIAHS) in Europe. They’re ok but there could be more.
- Evaluation of pulse crops’ functional diversity supporting food production. Three groups of pulses: producers (biomass and seeds), competitors (against weeds) and fixers (N).
- Assessment of Genetic Diversity of the “Acquaviva Red Onion” (Allium cepa L.) Apulian Landrace. It’s a well-defined variety that is noticeably sweeter than others.
Nibbles: Seed systems, Rice landraces, Amazonian seeds, Pathogens, Domestication, Vavilovian mimicry, Mexican maize
- The Resilient Seed Systems Shared Action Framework is out.
- 15 rice varieties are protected through Geographic Indication in India.
- Kids’ book about native seeds.
- Hacking the arms race between crops and pathogens.
- Domestication entailed a change in adaptation from megafauna to people as dispersal agents. Here’s the correct link to the study.
- Weed of rice became more rice-like due to hand weeding.
- Maize is being abandoned in its heartland. And yet there are calls for a milpa in every home.
Brainfood: Grassland diversity, Perennial crops, Ancient dates, Armenian grapes, Endangered trees, HLB sniffers, Household data, NUS, Phenotyping, Sorghum parasites, Wild Vigna, Ancient foods, Climate frontier
- Economic benefits from plant species diversity in intensively managed grasslands. More species means more milk, more money and less risk.
- Community structure of soil fungi in a novel perennial crop monoculture, annual agriculture, and native prairie reconstruction. Perennial monoculture not unlike native prairie.
- Origins and insights into the historic Judean date palm based on genetic analysis of germinated ancient seeds and morphometric studies. Ancient Judean dates may have come from further east.
- Genetic diversity and traditional uses of aboriginal grape (Vitis vinifera L.) varieties from the main viticultural regions of Armenia. 71 genotypes, no less.
- Mapping tree species vulnerability to multiple threats as a guide to restoration and conservation of tropical dry forests. About 50% of the distribution of 50 trees in northwestern Peru and southern Ecuador is vulnerable.
- Canine olfactory detection of a vectored phytobacterial pathogen, Liberibacter asiaticus, and integration with disease control. Dogs can sniff out a nasty citrus disease.
- The Rural Household Multiple Indicator Survey, data from 13,310 farm households in 21 countries. 758 variables, no less.
- Local Solutions for Sustainable Food Systems: The Contribution of Orphan Crops and Wild Edible Species. Increasing dietary diversity, more market opportunities for smallholders, and more attention to biodiversity conservation. Do orphan crops feature among the 758 variables above?
- Breeder friendly phenotyping. Focused, rapid and precise. Much like me, then?
- Genomics of sorghum local adaptation to a parasitic plant. Why we need on-farm conservation.
- Mapping patterns of abiotic and biotic stress resilience uncovers conservation gaps and breeding potential of Vigna wild relatives. Sources of resistance to biotic stresses are more common than to abiotic stresses, in terms of the number of species that have them.
- Archaeobotanical evidence of food plants in Northern Italy during the Roman period. Nice take-homes from Dr Lisa Lodwick on Twitter.
- The environmental consequences of climate-driven agricultural frontiers. Areas newly suitable for one or more crops store a lot of C, cover a lot of important watersheds and are home to a lot of biodiversity.
Nibbles: Medieval Iceland, Lebanese wine, Yemeni coffee, Ghana cowpea, SeedShare, Roman hamburger
- Ag diversification was a thing even in medieval Iceland.
- Not to mention contemporary Lebanon.
- Dumping qat for coffee is the good news we all wanted to hear. Jeremy provides the context.
- Ghana gets some new cowpeas. I just think it’s cool that they made the news.
- The joys of seed saving: the backstory of SeedShare.
- Procuring a hamburger in ancient Rome. This is a great sub-Reddit, BTW.
Nibbles: Trade & nutrition, Apple trifecta, Cider, Neolithic migrations, IIED double
- Getting trade to contribute to nutrition. Hard row to hoe.
- Elegiac introduction & postscript by Robert Macfarlane to a fabulous pean to wild Kazakhstan apples by the late, great Roger Deakin called East to Eden.
- And the connection between the above and “wild” apples in Scotland.
- An expensive poster showing how domesticated apple varieties relate to each other. I have to say I’m sorely tempted.
- Sorely tempted by this documentary on some cidermakers’ trip to Kazakhstan too.
- Nice to see my map of barley genebank accessions used in a blog post about mapping human DNA phylogenies.
- Your regular reminder that “PCLG is an international network of organisations coordinated by IIED that promotes learning on the linkages between people and biodiversity conservation” and that their newsletter is well worth subscribing too.
- And here are IIED’s best publications of 2019, including “Biodiversity loss is a development issue,” which is one of the great titles of our time, and not a bad paper either.