- Phylogeny and genetic structure in the genus Secale. The perennial species is different from the annuals, which are divided into an Asian and a non-Asia group and show all kinds of introgression.
- Consumers’ acceptance of a local landrace: the case of purple carrots. Sure, if produced locally.
- Saving the breeds: German Farmers’ preferences for Endangered Dairy Breed conservation programs. Sure, if they get paid.
- Analysing innovations among cattle smallholders to evaluate the adequacy of breeding programs. Intensification will need more than selection within the local breed. But it’s a start.
- Genetic diversity and population structure of the USDA sweetpotato (Ipomoea batatas) germplasm collection using GBSpoly. 4 clusters: Central American, North American, South American, and others.
- Updated review of potential medicinal genetic resources in the USDA, ARS, PGRCU industrial and legume crop germplasm collections. 22 species have potential.
- Apple (Malus spp.) Breeding: Present and Future. It’s bright, apparently.
- Strategies for Olive (Olea europaea L.) Breeding: Cultivated Genetic Resources and Crossbreeding. There’s an International Olive Council, and it has a Network of Germplasm Banks.
- Genetic flow among olive populations within the Mediterranean basin. Separate Syrian and Algerian genepools.
- Traditional farmers’ varieties: a valuable source of genetic variability for biofortification programs. Back to the future.
- SDG 2.5: How Policies Affecting Trade and Markets Can Help Maintain Genetic Diversity. It’s possible, but not automatic.
- Concept and protection of traditional knowledges in agricultural heritage system: a case study of Pu’er Traditional Tea Agrosystem. Based on 269 pieces of traditional knowledge, and in trouble.
- Mining alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) nodules for salinity tolerant non-rhizobial bacteria to improve growth of alfalfa under salinity stress. They work even on their own.
- Frozen fungi: cryogenic storage is an effective method to store Fusarium cultures for the long‐term. I guess will also work on the above?
- DNA barcoding to promote social awareness and identity of neglected, underutilized plant species having valuable nutritional properties. Familiarity breeds contentment.
Brainfood: Ecology of domestication, Citizen soybeans, Silkworm domestication, Barley spread, Indigenous management, Maize domestication, Temperate maize, Nutrient yields, Amazon history double, Women & diets, Online classification, Charred breadcrumbs, Wheat drought
- Crop domestication: anthropogenic effects on insect–plant interactions in agroecosystems. Domestication can upset trophic webs. Poor dears.
- The soybean experiment ‘1000 Gardens’: a case study of citizen science for research, education, and beyond. 2492 gardens, in fact.
- The evolutionary road from wild moth to domestic silkworm. Domestication in China, followed by multiple independent spreads and differentiation.
- Barley heads east: Genetic analyses reveal routes of spread through diverse Eurasian landscapes. 3 taxa, 8 genepools, multiple routes for spread. A bit like silkworm but in the opposite direction.
- A spatial overview of the global importance of Indigenous lands for conservation. 40% of all terrestrial protected areas.
- Maize domestication and gene interaction. More than just the headline 5 genes.
- Hallauer’s Tusón: a decade of selection for tropical-to-temperate phenological adaptation in maize. Need to go back to tropical germplasm for adaptation to temperate conditions.
- Moving beyond calories and protein: Micronutrient assessment of UK diets and land use. Roots, tubers and vegetables are the most land-efficient producers of 23 nutrients.
- The legacy of 4,500 years of polyculture agroforestry in the eastern Amazon. It is still with us.
- Direct archaeological evidence for Southwestern Amazonia as an early plant domestication and food production centre. And not just in the east.
- Does women’s time in domestic work and agriculture affect women’s and children’s dietary diversity? Evidence from Bangladesh, Nepal, Cambodia, Ghana, and Mozambique. Yes, but varies with socioeconomic status.
- Remap: An online remote sensing application for land cover classification and monitoring. Use your training set to detect habitat type(s) in Google Earth.
- Archaeobotanical evidence reveals the origins of bread 14,400 years ago in northeastern Jordan. Before domestication.
- Drought tolerance during reproductive development is important for increasing wheat yield potential under climate change in Europe. The good news is that germplasm close to the optimized ideotype for 2050 is already out there.
Nibbles: Carrot breeding, BIEN, Protected areas databases, Brazilian genebanks, Endangered coconut genebank, DSI, ABS, Climate pix, Botanical pix double, Potatoes galore, Pandanus language, Archaeological double, Palestinian seed saving
- Putting the polyacetylene back into carrots.
- The Botanical Information and Ecology Network gets an upgrade. Any CWRs among its 18,844,855 more observations?
- And any is protected areas? This will tell how well they’re managed. Mash up with this spatial database on indigenous lands?
- Otherwise, there are genebanks, though not enough in Brazil, apparently.
- And not always safe.
- What to do with Digital Sequence Information? Would be nice to be clear on what it is.
- ABS broken down by ISF. And the CGIAR. Not DSI though.
- Need climate visuals? Well, who doesn’t.
- The Columbian Exchange has visuals also.
- And the Royal Horticultural Society too.
- Speaking of Columbian Exchange: frites. And Vavilov, chefs, etc.
- Speaking about nuts in PNG. Comment by Jim Croft, who would know: “Except the species illustrated is the widespread oceanic strand species, Pandanus tectorius, not the endemic highland crop ‘karuka’, Pandanus julianettii.”
- 5000-year-old brewery in Egypt.
- 14,000-year-old bread.
- Fast forward 14,000 years.
Brainfood: African rice domestication, Barley evaluation, Al & sorghum, Potato seed systems, Yield trends, Arachis resynthesis, Potato breeding, Lupinus evolution, Helianthus invasiveness, Wild cassava, Beaked maize return, Amaranth breeding, Vegetables, American dogs
- The Rise and Fall of African Rice Cultivation Revealed by Analysis of 246 New Genomes. Domesticated in northern Mali as a result of the decline of wild species due to the drying of the Sahara.
- Unlocking historical phenotypic data from an ex situ collection to enhance the informed utilization of genetic resources of barley (Hordeum sp.). Don’t throw away that historical data from regenerations.
- Exploiting sorghum genetic diversity for enhanced aluminum tolerance: Allele mining based on the AltSB locus. It’s more prevalent in guinea sorghums.
- Unearthing unevenness of potato seed networks in the high Andes: a comparison of distinct cultivar groups and farmer types following seasons with and without acute stress. Potatoes are not just potatoes. And farmers are not just farmers.
- Global patterns of crop yield stability under additional nutrient and water inputs. Higher variability in yield expected under higher fertilizer inputs.
- Segmental allopolyploidy in action: Increasing diversity through polyploid hybridization and homoeologous recombination. Domesticating peanuts, the right way this time.
- Applications of New Breeding Technologies for Potato Improvement. Humble no more?
- Pleistocene glacial cycles drive isolation, gene flow and speciation in the high‐elevation Andes. In Lupinus, phylogeny does not recapitulate orogeny.
- Evolution of invasiveness by genetic accommodation. In a crop wild relative, no less.
- Manihot takape sp. nov. (Euphorbiaceae), a new tuberous subshrub from the Paraguayan Chaco. A crop wild relative too.
- Back to beaked: Zea mays subsp. mays Rostrata Group in northern Italy, refugia and revival of open-pollinated maize landraces in an intensive cropping system. Title of the week. Alternative: Polenta Power.
- From zero to hero: the past, present and future of grain amaranth breeding. Runner up.
- Issues and Prospects for the Sustainable Use and Conservation of Cultivated Vegetable Diversity for More Nutrition-Sensitive Agriculture. Still neglected.
- The evolutionary history of dogs in the Americas. They came over from Siberia with people, rather than evolving from local wolves, but all that’s left of them is a cancer.
Brainfood: Phenotyping, Genotyping, Perennial Hordeum, Communicating PGRFA, Participatory breeding, Sri Lankan homegardens, Traditional Slovak landscapes, Ecosystem services, LWR double, African cassava, Labelling fish
- Translating High-Throughput Phenotyping into Genetic Gain. More to it than cool drones. Although those are not to be sneezed at.
- A guide to sequence your favorite plant genomes. Someone may already have what you need.
- Towards the Development of Perennial Barley for Cold Temperate Climates—Evaluation of Wild Barley Relatives as Genetic Resources. H. bulbosum is the best bet. So far.
- Communicating plant genetic resources for food and agriculture to the public — A study of grant-receivers with demonstration-projects in the Danish Rural Development Programme. It can be done.
- Farmers’ participatory selection of new rice varieties to boost production under temperate agro-ecosystems. It can be done.
- Assessing the Impacts of Agrobiodiversity Maintenance on Food Security Among Farming Households in Sri Lanka’s Dry Zone. Help the poor.
- Contribution of Traditional Farming to Ecosystem Services Provision: Case Studies from Slovakia. Traditional systems more diverse and balanced in provision of ecosystem services than intensive modern systems. The problem is that pesky production service. Yeah, but about that…
- Bright spots in agricultural landscapes: Identifying areas exceeding expectations for multifunctionality and biodiversity. Small is beautiful.
- Why should we save the wild relatives of domesticated animals? Because we can.
- Tracking trends in the extinction risk of wild relatives of domesticated species to assess progress against global biodiversity targets. And because we should.
- Single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) diversity of cassava genotypes in relation to cassava brown streak disease in Mozambique. Some Mozambican landraces are very similar to resistant Tanzanian landraces.
- Generic names and mislabeling conceal high species diversity in global fisheries markets. DNA barcoding reveals that 300 “snapper” samples are in fact 67 species from disparate fisheries. Use Latin names, folks!