Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

November 20, 2018November 20, 2018

PGR in academia

European Seed is a new(ish) magazine aimed at the European seed sector. Its latest issue features a discussion about what academic institutions have to do to access and make available plant genetic resources according to all the relevant rules and regulations. Among the various experts involved in the Q&A is Theo van Hintum, of the Dutch genebank, well known to our blog. ((I learnt about it through a tweet from CGN.)) Here’s a snippet.

November 19, 2018

How to do seed longevity experiments

The article “Seed longevity phenotyping: recommendations on research methodology,” by Fiona Hay and others, is now freely available online. Read the whole thing, and note the use of DOIs, if you’re thinking of phenotyping seedlots for longevity or storability. But here’s the bottom line, just to whet you appetite:

Use ageing conditions that are appropriate to the potential downstream use of the findings. Ideally such conditions should be standardized to enable comparisons across studies and perhaps, species.

Take enough samples for germination testing such that a survival curve can be fitted to the data and appropriate parameters determined.

Specify if seeds were de- or adsorbing moisture; determine the MC of the seeds if they are placed in a controlled-RH environment (e.g. over a saturated salt solution).

In an earlier Brainfood I said it was behind a paywall, which I swear it was when I checked, but that’s not the case anymore, thank goodness.

November 19, 2018November 19, 2018

An experiment on cassava degeneration, Twitter-style

IITA plant virologist James Legg asks:

Cassava mosaic virus disease & Cassava brown streak virus disease constrain production throughout East & Central Africa, but do the effects get worse if farmers keep recycling planting material?

Yes, right?

Well, it’s more complicated than that. Spoiler alert:

1. Degeneration is most clear in resistant varieties as it happens slowly
2. Virus-free planting material gives greater yield gains than extreme resistance
3. BUT, virus-free material has no value for highly susceptible varieties

But read how they got there.

Cassava Degeneration in Africa – Part 2 – the Harvest

November 19, 2018November 19, 2018

Brainfood: Makapuno, Middle Eastern dogs, Date palm origins, Speedy NUS, Red apples, Apple characterization, Phenotyping double, Assisted migration & pathology, Soya diversity, Sustainable intensification, Seed research, Cucurbita history, Potato value chains, Livestock ES

Towards the Understanding of Important Coconut Endosperm Phenotypes: Is there an Epigenetic Control? Maybe.
Dogs accompanied humans during the Neolithic expansion into Europe. All part of the Fertile Crescent package.
Genomic Insights into Date Palm Origins. Domesticated in the Gulf region, but in a more complicated way than used to be thought.
Speed breeding orphan crops. Worth the extra cost.
Malus sieversii: the origin, flavonoid synthesis mechanism, and breeding of red-skinned and red-fleshed apples. Not just good for pest and disease resistance.
Can you make morphometrics work when you know the right answer? Pick and mix approaches for apple identification. Good job they differ in colour too.
Systematic establishment of colour descriptor states through image-based phenotyping. Doesn’t work for brown, though.
High-throughput method for ear phenotyping and kernel weight estimation in maize using ear digital imaging. And the colour doesn’t matter.
Amplifying plant disease risk through assisted migration. Making AM great.
Characterization of a diverse USDA collection of wild soybean (Glycine soja Siebold & Zucc.) accessions and subsequent mapping for seed composition and agronomic traits in a RIL population. One of the parents of the RIL population was a wild accession.
Plant Responses to an Integrated Cropping System Designed to Maintain Yield Whilst Enhancing Soil Properties and Biodiversity. So far, so good.
Seed longevity phenotyping: recommendations on research methodology. Ok, now there’s no excuse. ~~Oh, well, except for the paywall~~.
Evolutionary and domestication history of Cucurbita (pumpkin and squash) species inferred from 44 nuclear loci. All 6 crop taxa in one clade, and some novel relationships with wild species.
Value Chain Development and the Agrarian Question: Actor Perspectives on Native Potato Production in the Highlands of Peru. Difficult to penetrate the socio-economic jargon, especially without access to the full text, but I think it’s saying that to understand why some value chains for native potatoes work and others don’t, you have to understand that different players want different things. Which seems kinda obvious so I probably don’t have that right.
Perception of livestock ecosystem services in grazing areas. Not all bad.

November 16, 2018

Colonialism & desertification

A thoughtful Twitter threat about grazing.

Thread by @SarahTaber_bww: “SO MUCH THIS Should we be worried about climate change? Absolutely. But I’d like us to be worried like a pilot in a plane with engine troubl […]”