- Efficiency of insect‐proof net tunnels in reducing virus‐related seed degeneration in sweet potato. “Seed” meaning vines. And yes, those tunnels work.
- Divergence with gene flow is driven by local adaptation to temperature and soil phosphorus concentration in teosinte subspecies (Zea mays parviglumis and Zea mays mexicana). Genetic differences between the two subspecies is maintained by adaptive divergence despite gene flow.
- Agronomic Performance and Nitrogen Fixation of Heirloom and Conventional Dry Bean Varieties Under Low-Nitrogen Field Conditions. Not much difference, which is actually interesting.
- Evolutionary Insights into the Nature of Plant Domestication. It’s a long process, in which natural selection and interspecific hybridization play an important part, involving many of the same genes across species.
- Cryptic genetic variation accelerates evolution by opening access to diverse adaptive peaks. Add to the above? Ah no, only in bacteria so far.
- Screening African rice (Oryza glaberrima) for tolerance to abiotic stresses: III Flooding. From a collection of >2,000 to 11 better than Asian rice. You’re wondering about I and II, aren’t you?
- Understanding the factors influencing fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda J.E. Smith) damage in African smallholder maize fields and quantifying its impact on yield. A case study in Eastern Zimbabwe. Differences among maize varieties, but weeding, tillage and intercropping also have an effect. Have yield losses been overestimated, though? Maybe.
- Natural selection contributed to immunological differences between hunter-gatherers and agriculturalists. But the evidence seems to be that the pathogen burden was higher for the hunter-gatherers, which goes counter to everything we’ve been taught by Jared Diamond.
- Increasing crop heterogeneity enhances multitrophic diversity across agricultural regions. More crops means more biodiversity in general.
- More Than the Sum of Its Parts: Microbiome Biodiversity as a Driver of Plant Growth and Soil Health. More microbes mean better plant growth.
- Science–graphic art partnerships to increase research impact. Free your inner artist.
- Genetic diversity, linkage disequilibrium, and population structure analysis of the tea plant (Camellia sinensis) from an origin center, Guizhou plateau, using genome-wide SNPs developed by genotyping-by-sequencing. Four groups: pure wild type, admixed wild type, ancient landraces and modern landraces.
- The Relative Caloric Prices of Healthy and Unhealthy Foods Differ Systematically across Income Levels and Continents. …and at least partially explain differences in undernutrition and overweight in adults. Here’s the infographic.
- Household-level drivers of dietary diversity in transitioning agricultural systems: Evidence from the Greater Mekong Subregion. It’s complicated and context-specific, but dietary diversity seems to generally increase with agricultural “development,” i.e. market orientation, specialisation, and intensification. Somewhat surprising? I’ve lost track, frankly.
- Potential role of neglected and underutilized plant species in improving women’s empowerment and nutrition in areas of sub-Saharan Africa. So is increasing cultivation of orphan crops a driver or a consequence of agricultural development? See what I mean? Anyway, useful review.
Brainfood: Maya gardens, Bangladeshi jackfruits, Swedish plums, Pear core, Land sparing, Participatory trials, Cosmetics, Biodiversity & drought, Monitoring diseases, Predicting food insecurity, Kavaluation, Canola evolution, Temperate adaptation
- Learning from the Ancient Maya: Conservation of the Culture and Nature of the Maya Forest. Teaching forest gardening, before it’s too late.
- Genetic Diversity of Bangladeshi Jackfruit (Artocarpus heterophyllus) over Time and Across Seedling Sources. Downward trend in time, but no difference between growers and nurseries.
- Plum Cultivars in Sweden: History and Conservation for Future Use. From 70 varieties in nurseries, to 45 in the genebank.
- Integration of expert knowledge in the definition of Swiss pear core collection. Let stakeholders choose a few, it won’t make too much of a difference to the overall diversity, and they’ll be pleased.
- Can agricultural intensification help to conserve biodiversity? A scenario study for the African continent. Land sparing is better for biodiversity and food production.
- Influence of experimental design on decentralized, on-farm evaluation of populations: a simulation study. Replicate populations of interest rather than controls, and environments.
- Botanicals used for cosmetic purposes by Xhosa women in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. 16 plants, 14 families, bark the most common component, skin complexion the most common use.
- Droughts, Biodiversity, and Rural Incomes in the Tropics. More access to natural biodiversity means smaller effect of drought during the growing season on income from crops.
- A global surveillance system for crop diseases. Could be extended to other threats to crop diversity?
- A data-driven approach improves food insecurity crisis prediction. Market data, rainfall, geography and demography predict food insecurity at village level in near real time.
- Rapid detection of stressed agricultural environments in Africa under climatic change 2000–2050 using agricultural resource indices and a hotspot mapping approach. Increasing trouble for Tanzania, Zimbabwe, and to a lesser extent Ethiopia. But will biodiversity, disease monitoring and food insecurity prediction help?
- Kavalactones and Flavokavins Profiles Contribute to Quality Assessment of Kava (Piper methysticum G. Forst.), the Traditional Beverage of the Pacific. High-throughput HPTLC will do the job.
- Transcriptome and organellar sequencing highlights the complex origin and diversification of allotetraploid Brassica napus. 6 genetic groups: Winter rapeseed in Europe and America, Rutabaga, Spring rapeseed, Siberian kale, Winter rapeseed in East Asia, and Winter rapeseed in Europe and South Asia. No evidence of multi-origin.
- Parallels between natural selection in the cold‐adapted crop‐wild relative Tripsacum dactyloides and artificial selection in temperate adapted maize. Artificial selection for temperate adaptation in maize involved the same genes as natural selection for temperate adaptation in Tripsacum.
Nibbles: Half-Earth, Salmon runs, Melon book, Indian genebanks
- The Half-Earth Map is better than none.
- Repurposing rice fields in the off season to help out California’s Chinook salmon.
- Photogenic melons.
- A famous community seed bank is in trouble.
- While elsewhere in India, a new genebank takes off.
Nibbles: Bean and chili diversity, European Neolithic, Microbiota Vault, Paški sir, Freeze dried potatoes, Rice art, ABS
- Collecting beans in the American SW.
- Chilis too.
- Updated map of Neolithic expansion in Europe.
- The Microbiota Vault is a thing.
- Wind-flavoured cheese.
- But is chuño worth saving, really?
- The art of rice diversity.
- Using Jerry Maguire to explain the Plant Treaty. It is not well done. But one is surprised to see it done at all.
Brainfood: Barley diversity, Chinese veggies, Perennial legumes, Ecosystem value, Wild restorer, Eggplant taxonomy, Sweet potato phenotyping, Grass pollen, Aromatic rice origin, Orange cucumber, Watermelon breeding, Livestock value, Wild apples
- Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Seedling Net Form Net Blotch Resistance in an Ethiopian and Eritrean Barley Collection. 8 new QTLs, just like that.
- Vegetable Genetic Resources in China. 36,000 accessions. Just like that.
- Building a botanical foundation for perennial agriculture: Global inventory of wild, perennial herbaceous Fabaceae species. Check out the Perennial Agriculture Project Global Inventory.
- Ecosystem services and nature’s contribution to people: negotiating diverse values and trade-offs in land systems. Biological diversity has a diversity of values. Duh.
- Development of a drought stress-resistant rice restorer line through Oryza sativa–rufipogon hybridization. From F6 via BC5F5 to BIL627.
- Eggplants and Relatives: From Exploring Their Diversity and Phylogenetic Relationships to Conservation Challenges. The taxonomy is “arduous and unstable.”
- Morphometric and colourimetric tools to dissect morphological diversity: an application in sweet potato [Ipomoea batatas (L.) Lam.]. Beyond colour charts. Way beyond.
- Chemotaxonomy of domesticated grasses: a pathway to understanding the origins of agriculture. Fancy maths can identify pollen grains.
- Origin of the Aromatic Group of Cultivated Rice (Oryza sativa L.) Traced to the Indian Subcontinent. Arose when japonica hybridized with local wild populations.
- Orange-fleshed cucumber (Cucumis sativus var. sativus L.) germplasm from North-East India: agro-morphological, biochemical and evolutionary studies. Possible niche market?
- Progress in genetic improvement of citron watermelon (Citrullus lanatus var. citroides): a review. These are all orange-fleshed.
- Review: Domestic herbivores and food security: current contribution, trends and challenges for a sustainable development. Can’t live without them, but gotta do something about that enteric fermentation.
- Evaluation of Malus genetic resources for tolerance to apple replant disease (ARD). It’s the wilds, of course.