News & Events

The term “core microbiome” has become widely used in microbial ecology over the last decade. Broadly, the core microbiome refers to any set of microbial taxa, or the genomic and functional attributes associated with those taxa, that are characteristic of a host or environment of interest. Most commonly, core microbiomes are measured as the microbial taxa shared among two or more samples from a particular host or environment.

Due to the high immunity to powdery mildew, Dasypyrum villosum 6VS has been one of the most successful applications of the wild relatives in modern wheat breeding. Along with the desired traits, side-effects could be brought when large alien chromosome fragments are introduced into wheat, but little is known about effects of 6VS on agronomic traits. Here, we found that T6VS·6DL translocation had significantly positive effects on grain weight, plant heightand spike length, and small negative effects on total spikelet number and spikelet compactness using recipient and wheat-D. villosum T6VS·6DL allohexaploid wheats, Wan7107 and Pm97033.

While enough food is produced to feed everyone 1.5 times over, poor diets continue to hold the world back from reaching its full potential. The Covid-19 pandemic has set back the fight yet further. This year’s Nutrition for Growth Summit, held in Tokyo this week, provided a platform from which to accelerate global progress towards ending malnutrition.

A  recent Twitter conversation between the UN’s David Beasley and Tesla’s Elon Musk has shown that hunger is deceptively complex. There is a crucial difference between acute hunger, caused by shocks like war or natural disasters, and chronic hunger, which occurs when agricultural production (and distribution) fails to keep pace with threats such as soil degradation, erratic rainfall, or heatwaves, or when poverty renders food unaffordable.

Flag leaf morphology (FLM) is a critical factor affecting plant architecture and grain yield in wheat. The genetic architecture of FLM traits has been extensively studied with QTL mapping in bi-parental populations, while few studies exploited genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in diverse populations. In this study, a panel of 197 elite and historical varieties from China was evaluated for five FLM traits including the length (FLL), width (FLW), ratio (FLR), area (FLA) and angle (FLANG) as well as yield in nine environments

From lentils to chickpeas, borlotti beans to black eyed peas, pulses are many, varied and very nutritious! The Pulses: nutritious seeds for a sustainable future recipe book has more than 30 recipes prepared by some of the most prestigious chefs in the world. The book begins by explaining why pulses are such an important food: they are packed with protein, fibre and micronutrients, have a low carbon footprint and are generally low-cost and accessible.

Meal after meal. Day after day. It’s easy to get into routines with food and forget about the variety of fruits, vegetables, grains and other foods that exist, with all the different nutritional benefits that they offer.If that sounds familiar, then FAO is here to help. Drawing on our experiences from around the world, we’ve consulted with local cooks, chefs and families to put together some fascinating and useful cookbooks.

The elevated CO₂ (eCO₂) has positive response on plant growth and negative response on insect pests. As a contemplation, the feeding pattern of the brown plant hopper, Nilaparvata lugens Stål on susceptible and resistant rice cultivars and their growth rates exposed to eCO₂ conditions were analyzed. The eCO₂ treatment showed significant differences in percentage of emergence and rice biomass that were consistent across the rice cultivars, when compared to the ambient conditions.

Paleontologists always seek the most complete reconstruction of their beloved study objects, e.g., dinosaurs, mammals, or extinct invertebrates like the ammonites. The latter are representatives of the cephalopods that populated the oceans for more than 340 My. Among modern cephalopods only Nautilus shares an external shell with ammonites, while the majority of modern cephalopods evolved an internal and often reduced shell.

2021 was a particular year, and one in which we spent more time online than ever. From virtual meetings to e-birthday parties, our participation in online activities soared – including internet learning. The benefits are many: you can study what you like, when you like, wherever you like. And if you are looking for new courses to get those brain synapses going, you should check out FAO’s extensive catalogue of online, completely free, courses!

Benzylisoquinoline alkaloids (BIAs) are a diverse class of medicinal plant natural products. Nearly 500 dimeric bisbenzylisoquinoline alkaloids (bisBIAs), produced by the coupling of two BIA monomers, have been characterized and display a range of pharmacological properties, including anti-inflammatory, antitumor, and antiarrhythmic activities. In recent years, microbial platforms have been engineered to produce several classes of BIAs

In our end-of-year episode, we’re focusing on all things innovative in the world of agriculture. We hear from agro-preneurs in Australia, Africa and Asia who are using cutting-edge technologies and exploring new solutions to common problems. Nurture.farm describes their platform designed to help farmers achieve sustainability; Eden Green Technology shows us how to grow more food with less land, water and energy; and Hello Tractor is here to meet your farming equipment needs.