Threats

June 9, 2014June 9, 2014

Nibbles: Genomes galore: beans, sheep, citrus, Breeding from “weeds”, Talks, Old wheat, Adaptation, Popped sorghum, Managing BXW

Can’t move for genomes today.

First off, Phaseolus vulgaris.
Next up, sheep: one genome, three stories:

And citrus diversity: “Citrus has incestuous genes. Nothing is pure.”

But there is other stuff too.

How weeds could feed billions. Not by eating them but by breeding from them. Are crop wild relatives really all weeds?
TED talks on biodiversity. I suppose we should be grateful for 1.5 out of 30.
A New York baker has been exploring tumminia wheat. Without telling us.
Adaptation to climate change hardly worth it, according to econ 101.
So you want to make your own popped sorghum? All you need is a microwave and a paper bag.
ProMusa reports on an easier and better way for banana farmers to manage Xanthomonas wilt.

June 7, 2014June 7, 2014

Nibbles: Neolithic farmers, Minoan DNA, Cretan food, Olive history book, Organic dreams, Fairtrade experiment, Value chains, Jamaican breadfruit exports, Climate smart successes

Neolithic farmers spread into Europe by sea.
And it looks like the ones who got to Crete eventually gave rise to the Minoans.
And ate food not unlike what Cretans ate up to a hundred years ago.
Well of course the olive is important to all that.
Ten thousand years later, we find that organic is an impossible dream.
And Fairtrade may or may not work.
But value chains will make you free. Although that’s easier said than done.
And you have to be climate-smart to boot. Really, who’d be a farmer, in the Neolithic or now.

June 4, 2014June 4, 2014

Nibbles: De Schutter, Madagascar beans, Beer!, Cocktails!, CIAT strategy, Segenet, FGR, Risotto again, Domestication, Quinoa, Medieval workplan, Late blight

“Productivism” skewered one last time. Until the next time.
The Malagasy Bean Renaissance. No, really.
The science of beer foam. Now there’s no excuse.
Cocktails can be biodiverse too. You bet they can.
CIAT’s new strategy makes a splash. Genebank front and centre.
New ICIPE director tells all. She used to work at CIAT, did you know?
First edition of The State of the World’s Forest Genetic Resources is out. Now to do something about it.
Italy’s traditional rices preserved. Yes, Italy’s, you heard me.
Agriculture was invented in the current interglacial. Why then, and not in the Eemian?
Quinoa macronutrients exzzzzzzzamined.
Your what-to-do-now guide to the medieval farm. Progress? Not what it’s cracked up to be.
People of the Toluca valley! Expect researchers looking for wild potato genes resistant to late blight.

June 3, 2014

Nibbles: Early ag, Land data, CAP, African droughts, Risotto, Cowpea research, Reforestation

Conditions at the dawn of Fertile Crescent agriculture were wetter and more, well, fertile. Been downhill ever since.
Digitizing land data may not be good for women.
European agricultural policies bad for diets.
Africa will continue to face droughts. Looks like nobody can catch a break today.
Ah, ok, here’s something good. Italian rice a hit in China. Gotta get your victories where you can.
And some feel-good stuff on cowpea research in Mozambique.
And to conclude our return from the slough of despond, some encouraging news about forest restoration.

May 26, 2014May 26, 2014

Brainfood: Yam tissue culture, Barley core, Date genome, Ecosystem services & land use change, Remote sensing and conservation, Okra diversity, Carob diversity, Mexican genebank project, Chicken skin music, Mongolian camel, Coloured rice

Effect of various growth regulators on growth of yam (Dioscorea trifida L.) in vitro shoot tips. One small step for yam cryopreservation.
The USDA Barley Core Collection: Genetic Diversity, Population Structure, and Potential for Genome-Wide Association Studies. 5 sub-populations: roughly, Mediterranean, W Europe, E Europe, Asia and Ethiopia. GWAS effective in locating important phenotypes.
A first genetic map of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) reveals long-range genome structure conservation in the palms. Lots of synteny with oil palm and coconut despite differences in genome size. And we now (probably) know how sex determination works.
Economic evaluation of ecosystem goods and services under different landscape management scenarios. Agriculture usually wins at the expense of more “ecological” land uses, unless income from C and biodiversity (and timber) go up, or discount rates go down.
Oil in the Sahara: mapping anthropogenic threats to Saharan biodiversity from space. You can spot biodiversity threats from space. More examples along the same lines.
Genetic and morphological diversity of okra (Abelmoschus esculentus [L.] Moench.) genotypes and their possible relationships, with particular reference to Greek landraces. Much phenotypic variation, less AFLP variation, but geographically structured. Germination characteristics vary with ecology.
Genetic diversity revealed by EST-SSR markers in carob tree (Ceratonia siliqua L.). First time carbob has been genotyped using microsatellites. And that seems to be the only reason why this work was done.
Investigation of the genetic diversity of domestic Capra hircus breeds reared within an early goat domestication area in Iran. Breeds are diverse but geographically distinct, the western ones especially. Unlike sheep, which are moved around a lot more. Some evidence of inbreeding, which can and should be counteracted.
Diversity Assessment and Development of Sustainable Use of Mexican Genetic Resources: Prospects of a SATREPS Project. That would be Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development, between the Japanese and Mexican genebanks. Looks like a lot of genotyping and in vitro conservation research on lesser-known crops.
Establishing the validity of domestication genes using DNA from ancient chickens. You really need ancient DNA to study domestication.
Genetic diversity and population structure of Mongolian domestic Bactrian camels (Camelus bactrianus). No breeds, no problem.
Exploring Variability: New Brazilian Varieties SCS119 Rubi and SCS120 Onix for the Specialty Rices Market. Brazilian hipsters now have red and black rice.