- Biodiversity as insurance: from concept to measurement and application. It’s important to draw a distinction between the effect of biodiversity on mean and on variance of ecosystem properties.
- Reproductive resilience but not root architecture underpins yield improvement under drought in maize (Zea mays L.). Which presents an opportunity.
- Functional traits driving pollinator and predator responses to newly established grassland strips in agricultural landscapes. Biodiversity takes its time.
- Genetic diversity in fresh fruit pulp mineral profile of 100 Indian Musa accessions. Plenty of diversity, though different micronutrients are correlated, and 100 g contributes only 5-10% of daily mineral requirements.
- Declining diversity of wild-caught species puts dietary nutrient supplies at risk. Let them eat bananas. More nuance.
- A Metric for Species Representation in the US Potato Genebank. Sort of like a core collection, but across species.
- Pyramiding resistance genes and widening the genetic base of the apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) crop. From 36 cultivars, via 110 cross combinations, to 7,876 offsprings, to 2,969 after screening, to 75 genotypes each with 2-3 of the 20 Rvi6 genes. Hard row to hoe.
- Resistance to diseases in samples of rare wheat species from the N.I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources. Very hard row to hoe. Septoria nodorum blotch seems to be particularly tricky.
- Alien introgression and morpho‑agronomic characterization of diploid progenies of Solanum lycopersicoides monosomic alien addition lines (MAALs) toward pre‑breeding applications in tomato (S. lycopersicum). I particularly like the bit where it bursts through John Hurt’s chest.
Brainfood: Agroecology, Bioinformatics, Brazilian cassava, Cypriot wine, Swiss poppies, Pollinators, Groundnut breeding, Sorghum pangenome, Crop origins, Sparing vs sharing, Language diversity, Watermelon origins
- Crop origins explain variation in global agricultural relevance. What explains which crops are most important globally? For seeds, an origin in seasonally dry regions. For root, leaf and herbaceous fruit crops, an origin in the aseasonal tropics. But if you account for all that, basically age.
- Linguistic diversity and conservation opportunities at UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Africa. There’s a correlation between linguistic and biological diversity. Has anyone done crop diversity and languages?
- Sparing or sharing land? Views from agricultural scientists. If you look at synergies between nature and nurture (as it were), and beyond crop yield, you realize it’s the wrong question.
- Can agroecology improve food security and nutrition? A review. Yes, in 78% of 55 cases. But will it scale? And does it need to? Anyway, at least it’s looking beyond yield.
- Global effects of land-use intensity on local pollinator biodiversity. Intensification is bad for pollinator biodiversity for most land uses, but cropland intensification is only bad in the tropics. Can’t help thinking this needs to be mashed up with the above.
- Crop breeding for a changing climate: integrating phenomics and genomics with bioinformatics. In particular, integrating the phenomics and genomics of landraces and wild relatives at the extremes of habitable ranges. Well, there’s a lot more to it than that, but this is what stuck with me.
- Comprehensive genotyping of a Brazilian cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) germplasm bank: insights into diversification and domestication. 54% duplicates out of 3354 clones, the remaining 1536 arranged in 5 ecoregional ancestral groups.
- A chromosome-level genome of a Kordofan melon illuminates the origin of domesticated watermelons. Not from southern Africa after all. Nice bit of work.
- Preliminary investigation of potent thiols in Cypriot wines made from indigenous grape varieties Xynisteri, Maratheftiko and Giannoudhi. Cypriot grapes are more drought tolerant than varieties grown in Australia, but produce the tastes Aussie wine drinkers really like.
- A morphometric approach to track opium poppy domestication. Fancy math says Swiss Neolithic farmers were involved in the domestication of the opium poppy. Enough to drive one to drink.
- Registration of GA-BatSten1 and GA-MagSten1, two induced allotetraploids derived from peanut wild relatives with superior resistance to leaf spots, rust, and root-knot nematode. Sequencing paying off.
- Extensive variation within the pan-genome of cultivated and wild sorghum. Sorghum next?
Brainfood: Filbert genome, Weed evaluation, Cocoa bugs, Grass genes, Perennial ag, Forage quality, Forest gardens, Protected areas, Anthropocene, Pollinators, Neolithic burials, House mice
- The Corylus mandshurica genome provides insights into the evolution of Betulaceae genomes and hazelnut breeding. Yeah, but can it make Nutella better?
- Widely assumed phenotypic associations in Cannabis sativa lack a shared genetic basis. More work needed. Much more work.
- Dissecting industrial fermentations of fine flavour cocoa through metagenomic analysis. There’s a core of microorganisms in common even in very distant farms. Though I suspect the fun will be in the others.
- Widespread lateral gene transfer among grasses. Especially in rhizomatous species. That should relieve the anxiety about genetic modification, right? Right.
- An agroecological vision of perennial agriculture. Wait, what about those rhizomatous perennial grasses, though?
- Comparison of benchtop and handheld near‐infrared spectroscopy devices to determine forage nutritive value. The handheld devices are just fine. How long before Alice asks Chris for some for the ILRI genebank? To test on rhizomatous grasses, of course.
- Historical Indigenous Land-Use Explains Plant Functional Trait Diversity. Forest gardens in the Pacific NW still have more diversity 150 years after their indigenous managers were forced off them.
- The minimum land area requiring conservation attention to safeguard biodiversity. 44% of terrestrial area, home to 1.8 billion people. Presumably including a lot of indigenous managers.
- People have shaped most of terrestrial nature for at least 12,000 years. 75% of terrestrial area, in fact.
- Protection of honeybees and other pollinators: one global study. Focus on habitat loss and pesticides. And more monitoring.
- A sexual division of labour at the start of agriculture? A multi-proxy comparison through grave good stone tool technological and use-wear analysis. Guess which gender was buried with tools associated with interpersonal violence.
- Origins of house mice in ecological niches created by settled hunter-gatherers in the Levant 15,000 y ago. Well, hence the name, right?
- Commentary: Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future. Don’t warn. Resist.
Nibbles: Honeybees, Jeremy on farro, PNG ag origins, Filipino rice, Overproduction
- The myth of honeybee extinction in the wild.
- Myths about farro.
- The myth of agricultural determinism.
- The myth of landrace uselessness.
- The greatest myth of all?
Brainfood: Post 2020, Dietary diversity, African greens, Pollinator diversity, Seed science, Seed systems, Sorghum landraces, Wild millet, Maize microbiome, AnGR, Yosemite apples
- Actions on sustainable food production and consumption for the post-2020 global biodiversity framework. Subsidy reform, valuation, food waste reduction, sustainability standards, life cycle assessments, sustainable diets, mainstreaming biodiversity and strengthening governance. Easy, then, I guess.
- Farming System for Nutrition-a pathway to dietary diversity: Evidence from India. Well at least mainstreaming biodiversity is very easy, it seems.
- Unpacking the value of traditional African vegetables for food and nutrition security. Not so fast. African leafy greens have come a long way, but there’s still a bit of mainstreaming to go.
- Wild insect diversity increases inter-annual stability in global crop pollinator communities. Mainstreaming biodiversity should include pollinators.
- First the seed: Genomic advances in seed science for improved crop productivity and food security. Yeah, but it starts with seeds.
- Pluralistic Seed System Development: A Path to Seed Security? Though sometimes the seeds don’t get to who needs them.
- Farmers’ Perception about the Use of Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench) Landraces and Their Genetic Erosion in South Wollo Administrative Zone, Ethiopia. Sorghum landraces could do with some mainstreaming. Maybe pluralistic seed systems would help.
- Phenotypic variation and adaptation in morphology and salt spray tolerance in coastal and inland populations of Setaria viridis in central Japan. Mainstreaming diversity in a crop may involve protecting the habitats of its wild relatives.
- Maize germplasm chronosequence shows crop breeding history impacts recruitment of the rhizosphere microbiome. And not in a good way. Looks like mainstreaming biodiversity should also include the root microbiome.
- Farm animal genetic resources and the COVID-19 pandemic. Agroecology is the high road to mainstreaming farm animal biodiversity.
- Genetic data inform Yosemite National Park’s apple orchard management guidelines. Mainstreaming biodiversity in action.