Training

July 14, 2022

Course: “Genomes, Genebanks, and Growers”

This series of three 1-credit courses provides a solid introduction to the conservation and use of plant genetic resources. The series is targeted to upper-level undergraduates, beginning graduate students, and professionals undertaking continuing education. The learning outcomes, course format, computer requirements, and list of topics for the three courses are listed below.

Interesting, no?

June 30, 2022June 30, 2022

I see your podcasts, and raise you a clutch of videos

There’s some new videos out that readers might be interested in. You can find an entertaining take on herbaria on the Atomic Frontier YouTube channel. And if you’re into amaranth, check out the latest roundup of resources on GRIN-U.

June 7, 2022

Nibbles: Gulf garden, Lettuce evaluation, Jordanian olive, Kenyan seeds, Hybrid animals, FAOSTAT news

Qatari botanic garden is providing training in food security, and more. Good for them.
The European Evaluation Network’s lettuce boffins have themselves a meeting. Pretty amazing this made it to FreshPlaza, and with that headline.
The Jordan Times pretty much mangles what is a perfectly nice, though inevitably nuanced, story about the genetic depth of Jordan’s olives.
In Kenya’s seed system, whatever is not forbidden in proposed new legislation…may not be enough.
Conservation through hybridization.
FAOSTAT now has a bit that gives you access to national agricultural census data. Which sounds quite important but give us a few days to check it.

April 11, 2022April 7, 2022

Brainfood: Ultra-processed food, Micronutrients, Wheat breeding, Bambara groundnut breeding, Seed longevity, Sheep diversity, Switchgrass ploidy, Seed services, Jersey in Africa, Wine history, Austronesian dispersal

Ultra-processed foods should be central to global food systems dialogue and action on biodiversity. Should.
Global plant diversity as a reservoir of micronutrients for humanity. As.
Mainstreaming grain zinc and iron concentrations in CIMMYT wheat germplasm. Eventually.
Utilization of Plant Genetic Resources of Bambara Groundnut Conserved Ex Situ and Genetic Diversification of Its Primary Genepool for Semi-Arid Production. Insufficient.
More on seed longevity phenotyping. p₅₀.
Gender dynamics around introduction of improved forages in Kenya and Ethiopia. Training.
Whole-Genome Resequencing of Worldwide Wild and Domestic Sheep Elucidates Genetic Diversity, Introgression, and Agronomically Important Loci. Hairy.
Jersey cattle in Africa: From the Breed’s Documented Past to a Profit IndexLinked Future. Promising?
A generalist–specialist trade-off between switchgrass cytotypes impacts climate adaptation and geographic range. Polyploidy!
Decentralized Seed Services in Africa. Quality.
The Rise of Wine among Ancient Civilizations across the Mediterranean Basin. Ritual.
Genome Analysis Traces Regional Dispersal of Rice in Taiwan and Southeast Asia. Ok, I give up, I can’t do this. Austronesian speakers did not spread out of Taiwan because of rice. If you can summarize that in a word, I’m impressed, so let me know.

April 1, 2022

An apple story a day…

Well, that’s odd. The rush of stories about apples usually happens in the autumn. And yet, just in the past couple of days, quite apart from the tweet about Korbinian Aigner, I have come across:

An excellent roundup from the Apples & People newsletter.
A pointer to a webpage on the history of American apples.
News of newly-bred hypoallergenic varieties.

Oh, and since I have you here, might as well also say that there’s been an update from GRIN-U. No new resources specifically on apples lately, but there’s been a few in the past.