Wild relatives

September 12, 2013September 12, 2013

Botanic gardens conserve crop diversity too

We forget sometimes, in our cosy little crop genebank world, that botanic gardens do ex situ conservation of agricultural biodiversity too. ¹ Witness the Royal Botanic Gardens Endinburgh and the Really Wild Vegetable Project. I only know about it because they tweeted on it earlier today, and the tweet caught my eye because it mentioned wild cabbage, and had a nice picture too. It turns out, however, that the particular population of wild Brassica oleracea oleracea involved is not in the national UK inventory of crop genetic resources as known by Eurisco, and thus Genesys, which basically just sucks up Eurisco data. ²

@RBGE_Science @BrianFLloyd Map of wild B oleracea oleracea accessions at @WarwickGRU based on Eurisco/Genesys pic.twitter.com/BuADxfcHjF

— AgroBioDiverse (@AgroBioDiverse) September 12, 2013

That only includes material from the Warwick Genetic Resources Unit, which happens to be mainly from the southern part of the UK. So the material mentioned in the Edinburgh tweet, which comes from Fife in Scotland, is likely to add significant diversity to the “national” collection at Warwick. Scope for some closer collaboration between these two institutes? Well, maybe it’s already there and I haven’t caught it. Do let me know if I’m being unfair.

September 11, 2013May 3, 2018

Nibbles: ICRAF meet, Genome meet, Websites redux, Breadfruit video, Livestock project, Data, Kansas wheat, Chief scientists pontificate, Medieval melons, Peruvian foodiness, Whiskey

ICRAF are having their Science Week. Follow it on Twitter. And let us know if you’re there and want to write about anything agrobiodiversity related that comes up.
Plant Genome Evolution 2013 has been and gone, alas, but Chris Pires has storified the whole thing, pretty much. Lots of crops in there. But it’s disappeared now, of course.
Bioversity and FAO redesign their websites. Tell them what you think.
Diane Ragone talks breadfruit. With video goodness.
Aussie researcher talks about landing Gates grant to improve African livestock. Hopefully some conservation in there somewhere.
Decentralizing data: to empower communities; and to empower geeks.
Data, you said? Here’s data on why Kansas needs wheat breeders.
The world’s chief agriculture scientists want to share genetic resources. Good of them.
Europe used to have more melons.
Enough with the Peruvian superfoods meme, please.
I may have said this before, but it’s still valid: I need a drink.

September 9, 2013September 9, 2013

Brainfood: PGR commons, Tomato GWAS, Mango pollen, Grapevine cryo, Synthetic wheat diversity, Wild lettuce diversity, Indian homegardens, Ghats agrobiodiversity, Indian cattle, Wild potato genecology, Composite genomics, Conservation targets

What kind of goods are plant genetic resources for food and agriculture? Towards the identification and development of a new global commons. Exclude non-Parties to the ITPGRFA from access, and get all Parties to make up-front financial contributions are the recommendations that most grabbed my eye.
Genome-Wide Association Studies Using Single Nucleotide Polymorphism Markers Developed by Re-Sequencing of the Genomes of Cultivated Tomato. Markers for important agronomic traits identified. Now to use the little buggers.
Low temperature storage of mango (Mangifera indica L.) pollen. Good to know for these recalcitrant things.
Cryopreservation of grapevine (Vitis vinifera L.) in vitro shoot tips. Another triumph for droplet-vitrification.
Evaluation of Morphological Traits Diversity in Synthetic Hexaploid Wheat. But is it novel?
Wild Lactuca species, their genetic diversity, resistance to diseases and pests, and exploitation in lettuce breeding. It is novel, but can be difficult to use.
Homegardens as a distinct agro-ecological entity in Kerala: Its biodiversity, structural dynamics and environmental significance. They are becoming more and more important as refuges for biodiversity, but need policy support.
Probable Agricultural Biodiversity Heritage Sites in India: XVII. The South-Central Region of Eastern Ghats. And not a homegarden to be seen.
Genetic diversity and relationship of cattle populations of East India: distinguishing lesser known cattle populations and established breeds based on STR markers. Just because it’s not officially recognized as such, it doesn’t mean it’s not a breed.
Reproductive ecology and genetic variability in natural populations of the wild potato, Solanum kurtzianum. Sexual reproduction, insect pollinator behaviour and seed dispersal by storm water channels make for more diversity within than between populations, and more besides.
Genomics of Compositae crops: Reference transcriptome assemblies, and evidence of hybridization with wild relatives. Self-incompatibility and post-zygotic isolation makes for crops that are generally more different from their wild relatives.
Consequences for diversity when animals are prioritized for conservation of the whole genome or of one specific allele. Basically, you can’t do both.

September 5, 2013September 5, 2013

Nibbles: Weeds, Poverty, Mycorrhizae, Gluten-free wheat, Vanilla, Different apples, Pashmina wool

Oh dear, someone else has fallen for the “weeds are better for you” line, cautious question-mark notwithstanding.
And guess what? The poor don’t buy nutritious foods. How silly of them.
Great post explaining the great unseen: mycorrhizal fungi as drivers of plant diversity.
Gluten-free wheat? Really (even if the links still don’t work).
What would you video on honeymoon in Mexico? A visit to a vanilla plantation. What else?
Conserving apples and earth apples at opposite ends of the world.
Oh, no, pashmina’s in trouble!

September 2, 2013September 2, 2013

Brainfood: Pests & CC, Germplasm pix, Latvian legume rescue, Estonian potatoes, NZ genebanks, Yam polyploids, Tree evaluation, Ethiopian veggie, European seed law, Zulu sheep, Celosia management

Crop pests and pathogens move polewards in a warming world. At 3 km/year.
Systems for making NIAS Core Collections, single-seed-derived germplasm, and plant photo images available to the research community. The next level in genetic resources documentation?
Recovering Genetic Resources of Some Legume Species of Latvian Origin by Plant Tissue Culture. You have to work at it.
Overview of in vitro Preservation of Potato and Use of the Gene Bank Material in Estonia. They like coloured potatoes in Estonia.
The key roles of seed banks in plant biodiversity management in New Zealand. Are many and varied.
Microsatellite and flow cytometry analysis to help understand the origin of Dioscorea alata polyploids. Unreduced gametes did it.
Genetic variation in progenies of Jacaranda cuspidifolia Mart using the fan systematic design. Yon can measure genetic variation and evaluate performance under different spacings at the same time, which is important in a tree.
Diversity analysis in Plectranthus edulis (Vatke) Agnew collection in Ethiopia. As ever, a considerable amount of variability was found. Oh hum.
The European seed legislation on conservation varieties: focus, implementation, present and future impact on landrace on farm conservation. There should be more landraces in the Common Catalogue.
Characterization of Zulu sheep production system: Implications for conservation and improvement. If they’re so drought tolerant, why is drought threatening them? Well, there’s drought, and then there’s drought.
Effects of paraquat on genetic diversity and protein profiles of six varieties of Celosia in South-Western Nigeria. That would be a tasty and diverse local leafy green. Well, before the paraquat anyway.