Agricultural Biodiversity Weblog

September 18, 2013September 18, 2013

Genebank managers manage to have a good time

Luigi has been tweeting up a storm from the genebank managers meeting in Ames Iowa. If that’s the kind of thing that interests you, look for his hashtag, #ames13. Even if it isn’t, you might take a look for an object lesson in how to use social media.

This morning they’re off on a field trip. Will that slow him down? I doubt it.

September 16, 2013September 9, 2016

Brainfood: Identifying GMOs, European beans, Palm distribution, Croatian cattle, Beta biodiversity, Apple pollination, Chinese foxtail millet, New Brassica, Pennisetum & latitude, Egusi oil

Next-Generation Sequencing as a Tool for Detailed Molecular Characterisation of Genomic Insertions and Flanking Regions in Genetically Modified Plants: a Pilot Study Using a Rice Event Unauthorised in the EU. A rice event? They mean GMOs.
Genetic Diversity and Dissemination Pathways of Common Bean in Central Europe. Slovenia is mainly Andean, Austria a mixture of Andean and Mesoamerican.
Spatial distribution and environmental preferences of 10 economically important forest palms in western South America. It’s the water, stupid.
Genetic variability of microsatellites in autochthonous Podolian cattle breeds in Croatia. Istrian cattle and Slavonian Syrmian Podolians are similar, but not identical. I dunno, I just hope someone is keeping track of all this stuff.
Biodiversity Assessment of Sugar Beet Species and Its Wild Relatives: Linking Ecological Data with New Genetic Approaches. Where to find them, and how to use them. EcoTILLING is the way to go, apparently.
Biodiversity ensures plant–pollinator phenological synchrony against climate change. The more pollinators, the better.
Molecular diversity and population structure of Chinese green foxtail [Setaria viridis (L.) Beauv.] revealed by microsatellite analysis. Domesticated has geographical structure, wild does not. Origin in N China.
A new species of Brassica sect. Brassica (Brassicaceae) from Sicily. It never ends.
Latitudinal patterns of diversity in the world collection of pearl millet landraces at the ICRISAT genebank. Aim for 15°–20°.
Genetic Mapping of Seed Traits Correlated with Seed Oil Percentage in Watermelon. Egusi, to be precise. Aim for bigger seeds.

September 13, 2013September 13, 2013

Hari Upadhyaya of ICRISAT genebank recognized by CSSA

Congratulations to Dr Hari Upadhyaya, head of the ICRISAT genebank, on being awarded the Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources by the Crop Science Society of America. If you’re going to the award breakfast, you’ll be able to hear Hari talk in person about “Crop germplasm to overcome challenges to global food and nutritional security.” If you’re not going, here’s a taste of what you’ll be missing. Well done, Hari!

September 13, 2013

Si huele a caña, tabaco y brea…

Our friend and colleague Colin Khoury knows a lot about crop wild relatives…

…but he’s a man of many parts, another one of which involves salsa dancing. I can’t locate a video of him strutting his stuff on a Cali dancefloor, but here’s the next best thing, his thoughts on the nexus of salsa and agrobiodiversity, courtesy one of CIAT’s myriad blogs.

September 12, 2013September 12, 2013

The National Heirloom Exposition is here!

Please someone tell us that you’re at the National Heirloom Exposition at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, Santa Rosa, California, and would like to write about it. More than 20,000 expected to attend, surely one of you wants to blog it for us?