Kinship networks of seed exchange shape spatial patterns of plant virus diversity.

By structuring farmers' informal networks of seed exchange, kinship systems play a key role in the dynamics of crop genetic diversity in smallholder farming systems. However, because many crop diseases are propagated through infected germplasm, local seed systems can also facilitate the dissemination of seedborne pathogens. Here, we investigate how the interplay of kinship systems and local networks of germplasm exchange influences the metapopulation dynamics of viruses responsible for the cassava mosaic disease (CMD), a major threat to food security in Africa.

Hybridity has a greater effect than paternal genome dosage on heterosis in sugar beet (Beta vulgaris).

Background: The phenomenon of heterosis is critical to plant breeding and agricultural productivity. Heterosis occurs when F1 hybrid offspring display quantitative improvements in traits to levels that do not occur in the parents. Increasing the genome dosage (i.

Development of a comprehensive analytical platform for the detection and quantitation of food fraud using a biomarker approach. The oregano adulteration case study.

Due to increasing number of food fraud incidents, there is an inherent need for the development and implementation of analytical platforms enabling detection and quantitation of adulteration. In this study a set of unique biomarkers of commonly found oregano adulterants became the targets in the development of a LC-MS/MS method which underwent a rigorous in-house validation. The method presented very high selectivity and specificity, excellent linearity (R>0.

Ecotypic differentiation under farmers' selection: Molecular insights into the domestication of Rich. ex DC. (Fabaceae) in the Peruvian Andes.

Understanding the distribution of crop genetic diversity in relation to environmental factors can give insights into the eco-evolutionary processes involved in plant domestication. Yam beans ( Rich. ex DC.

Microsatellite markers for the yam bean Pachyrhizus (Fabaceae).

Premise Of The Study: Microsatellite loci were developed for the understudied root crop yam bean (Pachyrhizus spp.) to investigate intraspecific diversity and interspecific relationships within the genus Pachyrhizus. •

Methods And Results: Seventeen nuclear simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers with perfect di- and trinucleotide repeats were developed from 454 pyrosequencing of SSR-enriched genomic libraries.

Geographic differences in patterns of genetic differentiation among bitter and sweet manioc (Manihot esculenta subsp. esculenta; Euphorbiaceae).

Premise Of The Study: Manioc (Manihot esculenta subsp. esculenta), one of the most important tropical food crops, is commonly divided according to cyanide content into two use-categories, "sweet" and "bitter." While bitter and sweet varieties are genetically differentiated at the local scale, whether this differentiation is consistent across continents is yet unknown.

Marriage exchanges, seed exchanges, and the dynamics of manioc diversity.

The conservation of crop genetic resources requires understanding the different variables-cultural, social, and economic-that impinge on crop diversity. In small-scale farming systems, seed exchanges represent a key mechanism in the dynamics of crop genetic diversity, and analyzing the rules that structure social networks of seed exchange between farmer communities can help decipher patterns of crop genetic diversity. Using a combination of ethnobotanical and molecular genetic approaches, we investigated the relationships between regional patterns of manioc genetic diversity in Gabon and local networks of seed exchange.

Population genetics of Manihot esculenta ssp. flabellifolia gives insight into past distribution of xeric vegetation in a postulated forest refugium area in northern Amazonia.

The Guianas have often been proposed as a forest refugium; however, this view has received little testing. Studies of population genetics of forest taxa suggest that the central part of French Guiana remained forested, while the southern part (currently forested) may have harboured more open vegetation. Insights into the population structure of species restricted to non-forested habitats can help test this hypothesis.