- Natufian sickle blades (ca. 15,000–11,700 cal. BP) reveal cereal cultivation ca. 4.5 millennia before domestication. Archaeological evidence from ancient sickle blades suggests that people were harvesting cereal seeds thousands of years before domesticated forms emerged, blurring the line between foraging and farming, and offering fresh insight into the long co-evolution of humans and crops.
- Teosinte alleles enhance nitrogen assimilation and seed protein in maize. Wild relatives continue to provide valuable genetic resources for the improvement of crop seeds.
- Modeling seed germination data to meet biodiversity conservation needs in the Mediterranean. Robust germination models can improve both restoration planning and ex situ conservation by predicting when and how seeds are most likely to establish.
- To grow or not to grow: questioning seed dormancy and thermal germination responses along elevational gradients in four plant taxa. Seed dormancy does not always follow predictable patterns across environmental gradients.
- Delayed Seed Germination as a Strategy to Cope With Environmental Stress and Disturbance. Seed dormancy follows a (fairly) predictable pattern when you look at stress and disturbance.
- Reconsidering how to dry orthodox seeds for improved ex situ conservation outcomes. Conventional wisdom about drying orthodox seeds before storage may deserve re-evaluation, and refining drying protocols could enhance long-term viability and strengthen the effectiveness of seed banks.
- Short periods dominate mast seeding across diverse tree species. A broad analysis of mast seeding reveals that many tree species synchronize seed production over relatively short recurring intervals rather than highly irregular cycles.
Nibbles: NSW genebank, Ghana genebank, Community seed bank standards, Kenya legislation, Valuing diversity, BBC on potato, Ube yams in Philippines, Strawberry anatomy and history
- Another genebank in Australia. Unclear how it relates to the existing ones.
- Ghana’s genebank in funding trouble.
- How to run a community seed bank, according to the Bureau of Indian Standards. Apparently includes things like its relationship with other genebanks and funding.
- How to change legislation in Kenya to be more supportive of genebanks.
- Why we need genebanks in the first place.
- Otherwise decent podcast on the potato manages not to mention genebanks.
- Otherwise decent article on ube (Dioscorea alata) manages not to mention genebanks.
- Otherwise excellent dissection of the strawberry manages not to mention genebanks.
Brainfood: Diversity of Oats, Cotton, Sugarcane, Rice, Amaranthus, Vegetables, Agroforestry, Value chains
- Genome-wide comparative diversity uncovers population structure, global distribution, and targets of selection in hexaploid oat. A worldwide survey reveals how oat diversity is structured, spread, and shaped by breeding, helping pinpoint untapped genetic resources for future improvement.
- Genomic diversity and the domestication history of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum). Its genome traces cotton’s journey from its wild origins in Mesoamerica while documenting the genetic narrowing that accompanied domestication.
- Genetic architecture of sugarcane traits in a polyploid genomics framework. New genomic tools finally begin to untangle the diversity of one of agriculture’s most genetically complex crops, exposing the basis of traits breeders have long selected largely in the dark.
- Projected warming will exceed the long-term thermal limits of rice cultivation. Rice has historically thrived within remarkably stable climatic boundaries. Those boundaries are now on course to be crossed across major growing regions, with profound implications for global food security. Diversity to the rescue?
- An inter-specific Amaranthus pangenome captures genetic variation potentially underlying key leafy vegetable traits in this underutilised crop. A rich reservoir of previously hidden diversity emerges from across multiple cultivated amaranths, offering breeders new options for improving a neglected but nutritious vegetable.
- Impact of gardening and nutrition support provided to women in refugee camps in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh. Even in one of the world’s most challenging humanitarian settings, greater interspecific crop diversity translated into better diets, improved food security, and enhanced wellbeing.
- Designing perennial crop-based agroforestry systems: specificities, challenges, and opportunities. Diversification does not stop at the field edge: how perennial crops can be combined with trees to deliver productive, resilient, and biodiversity-friendly farming systems.
- Towards Nature Positive supply chains: From biodiversity commitments to organisational action. What would it take to move biodiversity from corporate promises to business practice? Maybe the above examples can help turn aspiration into measurable action.
Nibbles: Johnny Appleseed, ICRAF genebanks, China lychee genebank, Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute, Saudi tree genebanks, European genebank data, Pricing nature
- Johnny Appleseed basically set up fruit tree genebanks 200 years ago.
- Modern fruit tree genebanks could probably learn something from Mr Appleseed.
- Is there a Mr Lycheeseed, I wonder?
- There are probably some fruit tree collections at the Ethiopian Biodiversity Institute.
- Saudi Arabia is betting on tree genebanks. Maybe even fruit tree genebanks.
- All genebanks need to share their data, according to the guy in charge of helping European genebanks share their data.
- Can you put a value on genebanks? Should you?
The wild bunch
Never rains but it pours. Along very similar lines as the previous post on a fun effort to document people’s favourite breadfruit varieties, here comes the FruitDev project’s Wild Fruit Population of the Month.
Each month, the series highlights one (or more) populations identified by a FRUITDIV partner, illustrating how field exploration, local knowledge, and cross-partner collaboration contribute to a better understanding of wild fruit genetic resources.
By focusing on individual populations, the series aims to make visible the often-overlooked genetic diversity found in natural and semi-natural landscapes, many of which are shaped by environmental pressures such as drought, poor soils, or past disturbances. These populations represent valuable reservoirs of adaptive traits that are increasingly relevant for resilience, conservation, and future breeding strategies.
This month’s featured population is a dwarf almond from North Macedonia. Nice idea.
