Wild relatives

February 15, 2013February 18, 2013

Wild sunflower speciation talk…and more

Talks from #PAGXXI workshop on speciation genomics now available online https://t.co/C1DTh1yi

— Prof Richard Buggs (@RJABuggs) February 15, 2013

Which is particularly cool for us here because it includes that of Rose Andrew of the Rieseberg Lab at the University of British Columbia on “The Genomic and Geographic Landscapes of Sunflower Speciation: The Transition from Local Adaptation.” More from PAGXXI.

LATER: Plus there’s the whole Genomics of Genebanks thing too.

February 15, 2013February 15, 2013

Nibbles: Gates & Slim, Aquino, Home genebank, Quinoa indigestion, Cornish pasties, Exotic vegetables, Funny cheeses, Leafsnap, Beekeeping

Bigshots visit CIMMYT, miss opportunity to mention genebank. No, wait…
Bigshot visits IRRI, including genebank.
Yeah but who needs those anyway, you can make your own!
Now the French want their say on quinoa.
Speaking of the French, you think there is any horsemeat in Cornish pasties?
“I grew up with zucchini, but I prefer the flavor and texture of angled luffa.”
Gotta love the fact that there’s a thing called the Rogue Creamery.
Missed the fact that Leafsnap had been named one of the top 10 science apps of 2012.
Germans report on Italians helping Ethiopians. To keep bees. One suspects Ethiopians could teach Italians and Germans a thing or two about keeping bees, but that’s another story.

February 12, 2013May 3, 2018

Nibbles: Maize genes, Livestock domestication, Guinea fowl, Plant identification, Juniper conservation, Cacao conservation, Seed talk, IPBES report, Global consultation

Today’s genomic breakthrough involves kernel number in maize.
Neolithic people overhunted, then thought better of it.
Was guinea fowl ever domesticated, I wonder?
How to figure out if you’ve looked hard enough. For plants, that is. And some discussion.
Gin is in trouble. But help is at hand.
A workshop on chocolate and vanilla. My kinda event. And chocolate does need help. Gin, chocolate. Pretty soon life wont be worth living.
Simran Sethi’s Twitter chat after TEDxManhattan was storified, but it’s gone now of course. Try this instead.
Final say on that IPBES-1 gabfest.
And the first say on that “Global Consultation on agricultural biodiversity for sustainable food security” thing.

February 11, 2013February 8, 2013

Brainfood: Cotton hybrids, Lentil drought phenotyping, Wild Prunus, Italian food discourse, Disturbance and diversity, Olive domestication, Rhizobium diversity, Intensification, Niche model uncertainty

Interspecific hybridization in Gossypium L.: characterization of progenies with different ploidy-confirmed multigenomic backgrounds. They can be made, with some difficulty, and could be useful.
A new phenotyping technique for screening for drought tolerance in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.). In hydroponics. Seems to work.
Polyploidy and microsatellite variation in the relict tree Prunus lusitanica L.: how effective are refugia in preserving genotypic diversity of clonal taxa? The island populations are particularly important.
Trade-off or convergence? The role of food security in the evolution of food discourse in Italy. The food crisis had quite an impact.
Diversity loss with persistent human disturbance increases vulnerability to ecosystem collapse. Suppression of fire in a species-rich grassland has resulted in a very low diversity but highly productive vegetation. Unfortunately, when you re-introduce fire, the whole thing collapses.
The complex history of the olive tree: from Late Quaternary diversification of Mediterranean lineages to primary domestication in the northern Levant. Don’t forget the 3 refugia in Middle East, Aegean and Gibraltar. And, coincidentally, more.
Isolation and characterization of salt-tolerant rhizobia native to the desert soils of United Arab Emirates. I hope someone conserves them.
The compatibility of agricultural intensification in a global hotspot of smallholder agrobiodiversity (Bolivia). Peaches for cash didn’t do anything nasty to the diverse maize landraces. Which are in any case conserved ex situ, just to be on the safe side? Right?
Detrital diversity influences estuarine ecosystem performance. Diverse mud makes for healthier seagrasses and mangroves.
Conservation Planning with Uncertain Climate Change Projections. Gotta look at those sensitivities.

February 7, 2013February 7, 2013

Nibbles: Farm size, Evidence-based policy, Priority sites, Tibetan grasslands, Sustainable intensification, Lipid improvement, Medicinal plants, Local fish, Wheat access, Purple yam,

Small is beautiful. No, wait… And more from where that came, ahem, from.
Evidence? We don’t need no stinking evidence.
CIAT blogs about a workshop about a model about prioritization about populations about breeding about beans. While its peach palm thing gets picked up.
Tibetan grasslands feel the heat. Not entirely certain why ICRAF should care, but it’s good to know.
Peaches compatible with maize in Bolivian agrobiodiversity hotspot. Not nearly enough info in this release, will need to chase it up. And here it is.
Rothamstead engineers lipids. But it’s for better nutrition, so that’s ok.
Trad med in RSA.
Fish as an ingredient of complementary foods. Nutritious, I’m sure, but I suspect Crocodile Dundee’s comment on the iguana applies.
US wheat breeders worried about access. Maybe if the country ratified the ITPGRFA?
Filipinos really like purple sweets, apparently. Here are some made of purple yam, ube, Dioscorea alata, call it what you will.