- Assessment of genetic diversity of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (l.) Moench] germplasm in East and Central Africa. Each country is different.
- A Review of Living Collections with Special Emphasis on Sustainability and Its Impact on Research Across Multiple Disciplines. Crop genebanks are just the tip of the iceberg, but they all have the same problems.
- Why Oats Are Safe and Healthy for Celiac Disease Patients. Because of the avenins.
- 14,000-year-old seeds indicate the Levantine origin of the lost progenitor of faba bean. Eureka!
- Monitoring Changes in Genetic Diversity. Needs genetic data.
- An exploratory analysis on how geographic, socioeconomic, and environmental drivers affect the diversity of livestock breeds worldwide. More animals = more breeds.
- Cryopreservation and evaluations of vegetative growth, microtuber production and genetic stability in regenerants of purple-fleshed potato. Apparently the first time it was done for this colour of sweet potatoes.
- Sequencing of Australian wild rice genomes reveals ancestral relationships with domesticated rice. N. Australia is the centre of diversity of genome A.
- Genetic diversity and variability in Foxtail millet [Setaria italica (L.)] germplasm based on morphological traits. 51 Indian elites form non-geographic groups.
- The Bonsai as an alternative safety duplication system of the world cassava collection preserved at CIAT. So cool.
- Conservation of food tree species in Niger: towards a participatory approach in rural communities. Adansonia, Boscia and Maerua need watching.
Illustrating domestication
There’s really nothing better than a map to explain the history of domestication in an economic and effective fashion, but I have to say that this recent example from a paper on crop domestication in the Fertile Crescent misses the mark.
It’s supposed to show that…
…plant remains from archaeological sites dated to around 11,600-10,700 years ago suggest that in regions such as Turkey, Iran and Iraq, legumes, fruits and nuts dominated the diet, whereas cereals were the preferred types of plants in Jordan, Syria, Palestine and Israel.
Which I suppose it does, but I have to think they could have done better. Compare with this, from another recent paper, showing the prevalence of spotted coats in early domestic horses.
It’s still a bit busy, but much clearer than the previous one, I think.
Would be great to see an index of all such maps, maybe a mash-up in due course, even a GIF eventually?
Sidestreaming agriculture in biodiversity action plans
It turns out I don’t have to get an intern to go through a whole bunch of NBSAPs to fillet out how agriculture is being mainstreamed into biodiversity conservation plans. That’s because Bioversity have done it for me. The bottom line?
Very few of the reviewed NBSAPs include explicit plans to use genetic resources for food and agriculture (GRFA), for climate change adaptation or for diversified diets and improved nutrition.
Why am I not surprised?
Brainfood: Aichi 14, Dwarf coconut diversity, Food system sustainability, African data, Pepper core, Australian flora, EU seed law, Rice conservation, Israeli genebank, ICRISAT pearl millet diversity
- Status and Trends in Global Ecosystem Services and Natural Capital: Assessing Progress Toward Aichi Biodiversity Target 14. 21 datasets, and the only “state” indicator for the “food” service is fisheries stocks?
- SSR markers reveal the population structure of Sri Lankan yellow dwarf coconuts (Cocos nucifera L.). They’ve been naughty with the talls.
- Identifying attributes of food system sustainability: emerging themes and consensus. Diversity, modularity, transparency, innovation and congruence. You had me at diversity.
- CELL5M: A geospatial database of agricultural indicators for Africa South of the Sahara. 134 data layers for harvested crop area.
- Genetic diversity and population structure analysis to construct a core collection from a large Capsicum germplasm. Based on transcriptome, no less.
- Genetic diversity and structure of the Australian flora. Meta-analysis finds some surprises. But for CWR?
- Securing Crop Genetic Diversity: Reconciling EU Seed Legislation and Biodiversity Treaties. EU seed law is an ass.
- Diversity Among Rice Landraces Under Static (Ex Situ) and Dynamic (On-Farm) Management: A Case from North-Western Indian Himalayas. For two landraces, more alleles per locus in situ compared to ex situ. And?
- Strategies and priorities in field collections for ex situ conservation: the case of the Israel Plant Gene Bank. Sort of a core collection of the whole flora.
- Adaptation Pattern and Genetic Potential of Indian Pearl Millet Named Landraces Conserved at the ICRISAT Genebank. Agronomically derived clusters show geographically structured distributions.
Cary Fowler’s acceptance speech for Frank N. Meyer Medal
It turns out we do know what Cary Fowler had to say when he received the Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources. It’s not on the relevant website, but it is here below, courtesy of Cary himself.
Last spring, I received an email from a graduate student at UC-Davis I had never met or communicated with before. Jorge Carlos Berny informed me that he had nominated me for the Meyer Award. Needless to say, the letter came as a surprise. So does the award.
I am so fortunate to have been mentored and befriended by many past recipients: Erna Bennett, Daniel Debouck, Geoff Hawtin, Jaap Hardon, Jack Harlan, Cal Qualset, Henry Shands, Calvin Sperling, and others. Joining their ranks is humbling. I am deeply touched and grateful.
Our crops are beginning to face dramatically new combinations of conditions for which there are few, if any, historical analogues. It’s not going to get easier for them. Our agricultural systems are likely to experience more uncertainty and surprises, and heightened risk. Plant genetic resources will be essential in facilitating the adaption of our crops to the challenges of the future. While progress has been made in conserving and making these resources available, would anyone want to argue that the genetic resources and crop breeding communities are fully prepared for what’s coming?
Too many genebank collections are poorly maintained, documented and managed today. Few are firmly connected with users. None are adequately or sustainably funded. Many cannot provide access to their materials, and more than a few simply refuse to provide access. Some of our crop collections – particularly those of minor crops – are dreadfully inadequate in size and breadth. Many crops have few if any professional breeders, making the path to adaption and improvement highly problematic unless something changes. In-situ efforts to conserve crop diversity and promote breeding are similarly challenged.
Our current genebank system is largely a creation of the 1970s, and a different political and scientific world. From a global perspective, it needs rethinking and redesign. Can we streamline conservation and reduce its costs? Can we cooperate on a division of labor amongst genebanks? Can we strengthen the link between conservation and use? Can we be more creative in promoting use?
When I joined the Global Crop Diversity Trust as its Executive Director years ago, the task as I saw it was to identify the most critical and strategic steps we could take to help create a working global system for plant genetic resources.
We first set about rescuing threatened accessions in genebanks – saving about 80,000 accessions globally. We supported the development of information systems for genebank management, as well as GRIN-Global. We built an endowment and began to make the first long-term – essentially perpetual – grants to selected international genebanks. We launched a global program to collect and conserve crop wild relatives. And, we promoted safety duplication of existing collections, most notably in the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, which now provides protection to more than 880,000 unique samples.
In my life and work, I have tried to make a contribution to the creation of a rational, efficient, effective and sustainable global system for conserving and providing plant genetic resources. That’s a mouthful to be sure! It was the aspiration; it is not yet the reality.
To achieve that global system we will need to create trust. In the context of trust, we will be able to realize that our goal is to conserve diversity, not institutions. It’s to share not hoard resources. No country is independent in terms of the genetic resources they need, and the changing climate ensures they will be even less so in the future. In the interdependent world in which we live, and in the more cooperative and peaceful world I want to see, one does not lose by sharing. Global and national food security depends on it.
Plant genetic resources really are a common heritage of humankind. This is the only scientifically and historically valid way to think of them, and the only basis upon which countries can come together to ensure their conservation and availability.
I wish to thank the Crop Science Society of America and the Frank Meyer Award Committee for this honor. It is considered the highest recognition one can receive in this field. That it comes from colleagues in the plant genetic resources community means more to me that I can possibly convey.
Thank you.