Policy

March 12, 2021

Journals take Nagoya on board

The journals Molecular Ecology and Molecular Ecology Resources are revising their Data Accessibility Statements to address the requirements of the Nagoya Protocol. It will now be called the Data Accessibility and Benefit‐Sharing Statement and will include this addition:

Molecular Ecology and Molecular Ecology Resources require, as a condition for publication, that the research described in the publication complies with relevant national laws implementing the Convention on Biological Diversity and Nagoya Protocol agreements. Authors will be required to make an affirmative statement during the submission process as to compliance with national laws, if applicable.

Molecular Ecology and Molecular Ecology Resources also encourage authors to disclose benefits generated commensurate with the Nagoya Protocol. Further information on the scope of benefits recognized under the Nagoya Protocol, see the link to the Nagoya Protocol Annex at https://www.cbd.int/abs/text/articles/?sec=abs‐37.

It’s all explained here. Next, let’s see all journals require DOIs for all genebank material used in published work.

March 11, 2021March 11, 2021

Nibbles: Vavilov, Indian rice, Mexican maize, British hops, ICARDA, Turkey feathers

Podcast on Vavilov.
Indian government mainstreams Vavilov.
Debate on maize in Mexico ends up mainstreaming Vavilov.
Vavilov would approve of Fuggle and Golding.
Pretty sure Mariana Yazbek and Vavilov would have got on.
Not sure if Vavilov thought much about livestock domestication, but I expect so, and he would probably have enjoyed this story about Pueblo turkeys too.

March 9, 2021March 9, 2021

Nibbles: Zoos, China genebank, Trinidad genebank, Patagonia & Breadfruit Institute, Dichotomising food, African food, Twitty on rice

Seed banks, but for animals.
New genebank, for seeds, in China.
Old genebank, for seeds, in Trinidad & Tobago.
Food company collaborates with oldish genebank, of trees.
Industrialist or organicist, we’re still going to need genebanks.
Podcasting on African food. Not a genebank in sight.
How an African food became an American food.

March 8, 2021March 4, 2021

Brainfood: Post 2020 indicators double, Protected areas, Infraspecific variation, SeedExtractor, Processing, Regenerating spuds, Gut microbiota, Plant microbiome, Citrus greening, Rusts never sleep, Bee competition, Pollinator decline, Genomic selection, Pig diversity

An analysis of genetic diversity actions, indicators and targets in 114 National Reports to the Convention on Biological Diversity. It is not well done, but the authors were surprised to see it done at all.
Essential indicators for measuring site‐based conservation effectiveness in the post‐2020 global biodiversity framework. Remote sensing will save us. But see above.
Pervasive cropland in protected areas highlight trade-offs between conservation and food security. Remote sensing (et al.) in action.
Conserving intraspecific variation for nature’s contributions to people. Well, yeah. But can remote sensing help?
SeedExtractor: An Open-Source GUI for Seed Image Analysis. Somebody mention intraspecific variation? Here’s a way to cope with seed variation.
The processed food revolution in African food systems and the double burden of malnutrition. There’s bad processing, and good processing, even the bad processing has some upsides, but really we should try to have only good processing.
Expression of internal reproductive barriers in a germplasm bank accession of the wild potato Solanum chacoense Bitter in three ex situ regeneration cycles. Ne < N.
Effects of Iron and Zinc Biofortified Foods on Gut Microbiota In Vivo (Gallus gallus): A Systematic Review. Biofortified foods are good for gut health. In chickens.
Experimental evidence of microbial inheritance in plants and transmission routes from seed to phyllosphere and root. Plants get their microbiome from the seeds whence they came, not just the environment.
A stable antimicrobial peptide with dual functions of treating and preventing citrus Huanglongbing. From a wild relative, natch.
Wheat rust epidemics damage Ethiopian wheat production: A decade of field disease surveillance reveals national-scale trends in past outbreaks. Boom-and-bust is alive and well.
Honey bee hives decrease wild bee abundance, species richness, and fruit count on farms regardless of wildflower strips. And the good news just keeps on coming.
Pollination strategies in the face of pollinator decline. The really good news is that plants may adapt to pollinator decline.
Genomic Selection for Any Dairy Breeding Program via Optimized Investment in Phenotyping and Genotyping. You don’t need more money, you just need to reallocate some of the phenotyping money to genotyping, genotypers say.
Runs of homozygosity provide a genome landscape picture of inbreeding and genetic history of European autochthonous and commercial pig breeds. Local breeds around Europe have similar genetic structures.

March 5, 2021March 5, 2021

Nibbles: Millets 2023, Pygmy hog, Iraqi seeds, Botanicals, Business, EU

Watch out for the millets renaissance.
This small wild pig is already having a renaissance.
Can you help with the renaissance of some Iraqi vegetable seeds?
Alpine botanicals will be having anything but a renaissance. Genebanks anyone?
No way to call the uptick in interest in biodiversity in the financial industry a renaissance. I’m not even sure it’s an uptick, actually. Absinthe, anyone?
Will the EU’s Farm to Fork plus biodiversity strategies lead to an environmental renaissance?