Some beautiful maize diversity at the CIMMYT germplasm bank plus some really weird looking maize mutants.
March 20, 2025 at 9:11 PM
Some beautiful maize diversity at the CIMMYT germplasm bank plus some really weird looking maize mutants.
"In February, while firing “probationary” employees in the federal government, the Trump administration got rid of several specialists {in} the National Plant Germplasm System."
Learn about the NPGS with @avecruth.bsky.social
www.thebulwark.com/p/five-quest...
Learn about the NPGS with @avecruth.bsky.social
www.thebulwark.com/p/five-quest...
Five Questions for America’s Secret Police
Plus: DOGE tries to kill America’s most important seed bank.
www.thebulwark.com
March 29, 2025 at 2:01 PM
"In February, while firing “probationary” employees in the federal government, the Trump administration got rid of several specialists {in} the National Plant Germplasm System."
Learn about the NPGS with @avecruth.bsky.social
www.thebulwark.com/p/five-quest...
Learn about the NPGS with @avecruth.bsky.social
www.thebulwark.com/p/five-quest...
Maternally deposited proteins Tdrd6a & Tdrd6c regulate Bucky ball activity and ensure the retention of germplasm in zebrafish embryos. 🐟
@justingutbio.bsky.social covers a #preprint from the lab of @reneketting.bsky.social
Take a look at the #preLight! ⬇️👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/g...
@justingutbio.bsky.social covers a #preprint from the lab of @reneketting.bsky.social
Take a look at the #preLight! ⬇️👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/g...
Germplasm stability in zebrafish requires maternal Tdrd6a and Tdrd6c - preLights
Maternally deposited proteins Tdrd6a and Tdrd6c act redundantly to regulate Bucky ball activity and ensure the retention of germplasm in zebrafish embryos
prelights.biologists.com
December 16, 2024 at 2:08 PM
Maternally deposited proteins Tdrd6a & Tdrd6c regulate Bucky ball activity and ensure the retention of germplasm in zebrafish embryos. 🐟
@justingutbio.bsky.social covers a #preprint from the lab of @reneketting.bsky.social
Take a look at the #preLight! ⬇️👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/g...
@justingutbio.bsky.social covers a #preprint from the lab of @reneketting.bsky.social
Take a look at the #preLight! ⬇️👀
prelights.biologists.com/highlights/g...
ASPB and 93 other organizations recently sent a letter to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials in support of for the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), a USDA ARS program focused on conserving and distributing plant genetic resources. Read more 👇 buff.ly/4Y9HBaR
#plantscience
#plantscience
ASPB Calls for Support of NPGS | Plant Science Today
ASPB and 93 other organizations recently sent a letter to USDA officials in support of for the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS).
buff.ly
March 31, 2025 at 12:15 PM
ASPB and 93 other organizations recently sent a letter to US Department of Agriculture (USDA) officials in support of for the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), a USDA ARS program focused on conserving and distributing plant genetic resources. Read more 👇 buff.ly/4Y9HBaR
#plantscience
#plantscience
Since 1898, the Department of Ag’s National Plant Germplasm System scientists have systematically gathered and maintained the agricultural plant species that undergird our food system in vast collections like the one in Aberdeen, Idaho.
Musk is trying to defund it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...
Musk is trying to defund it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...
Opinion | Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds?
Gene banks are like a survivalist cache: our nation’s safeguard against all future challenges to growing the food we need.
www.nytimes.com
March 24, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Since 1898, the Department of Ag’s National Plant Germplasm System scientists have systematically gathered and maintained the agricultural plant species that undergird our food system in vast collections like the one in Aberdeen, Idaho.
Musk is trying to defund it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...
Musk is trying to defund it.
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...
📢 New publication 'Evaluation of #mango (Mangifera indica L.) #germplasm for phenotypic diversity and breeding potential in Pakistan' by Wajiha Zaka Ansari, Hannan Mukhtar, Asjad Ali, Muhammad Arif, Javed Iqbal and Robert Henry in Scientific Reports 🥭🧪
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Evaluation of mango (Mangifera indica L.) germplasm for phenotypic diversity and breeding potential in Pakistan - Scientific Reports
Scientific Reports - Evaluation of mango (Mangifera indica L.) germplasm for phenotypic diversity and breeding potential in Pakistan
doi.org
February 1, 2026 at 11:10 PM
📢 New publication 'Evaluation of #mango (Mangifera indica L.) #germplasm for phenotypic diversity and breeding potential in Pakistan' by Wajiha Zaka Ansari, Hannan Mukhtar, Asjad Ali, Muhammad Arif, Javed Iqbal and Robert Henry in Scientific Reports 🥭🧪
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
doi.org/10.1038/s415...
Once again my lab rocks. They felt it was important to recognize the colonial and in some cases eugenics-inspired history of the extraction and collection of the maize germplasm we use all the time. So they wrote this up as a group. rilab.ucdavis.edu/maize_histor...
February 22, 2024 at 10:11 PM
Once again my lab rocks. They felt it was important to recognize the colonial and in some cases eugenics-inspired history of the extraction and collection of the maize germplasm we use all the time. So they wrote this up as a group. rilab.ucdavis.edu/maize_histor...
Cornell AgriTech lost our new USDA grape physiologist among other great recent hires in the germplasm unit on campus. These cuts are contrary to efficiency and contrary even to national food security.
Chaos in the USDA gene banks. A new chief gets fired. Then reinstated. www.science.org/content/arti...
U.S. gene banks, key to new crops, hobbled by Trump job cuts
Newly appointed head of USDA’s genetic repositories axed along with key staff
www.science.org
February 25, 2025 at 12:07 AM
Cornell AgriTech lost our new USDA grape physiologist among other great recent hires in the germplasm unit on campus. These cuts are contrary to efficiency and contrary even to national food security.
The USDA National Plant Germplasm System, or NPGS, distributes plant germplasm (including seeds) to professional plant breeders and other career research scientists. 🌱🌿🌳🌻
ask.usda.gov/s/article/Ca...
ask.usda.gov/s/article/Ca...
AskUSDA
ask.usda.gov
December 5, 2024 at 8:18 PM
The USDA National Plant Germplasm System, or NPGS, distributes plant germplasm (including seeds) to professional plant breeders and other career research scientists. 🌱🌿🌳🌻
ask.usda.gov/s/article/Ca...
ask.usda.gov/s/article/Ca...
The international & interstate movement of small ruminants (goats & sheep) whether in the form of live animals or parts like germplasm that may come in contact with them is heavily regulated due to scrapie, tuberculosis, and brucellosis risk. Dude needs to be taken out back.
October 1, 2024 at 9:07 PM
The international & interstate movement of small ruminants (goats & sheep) whether in the form of live animals or parts like germplasm that may come in contact with them is heavily regulated due to scrapie, tuberculosis, and brucellosis risk. Dude needs to be taken out back.
I saw a video where a guy talking about seed banks said “germplasm” like “germ-plays-em”.
As a chronic mispronouncer of shit I’ve only read, I immediately googled it in fear.
I’m right, he’s wrong, by the way, but what I want to complain about is this. “Like “plasm” in “plasm””, Google? WTF.
As a chronic mispronouncer of shit I’ve only read, I immediately googled it in fear.
I’m right, he’s wrong, by the way, but what I want to complain about is this. “Like “plasm” in “plasm””, Google? WTF.
April 8, 2025 at 1:58 AM
I saw a video where a guy talking about seed banks said “germplasm” like “germ-plays-em”.
As a chronic mispronouncer of shit I’ve only read, I immediately googled it in fear.
I’m right, he’s wrong, by the way, but what I want to complain about is this. “Like “plasm” in “plasm””, Google? WTF.
As a chronic mispronouncer of shit I’ve only read, I immediately googled it in fear.
I’m right, he’s wrong, by the way, but what I want to complain about is this. “Like “plasm” in “plasm””, Google? WTF.
#OMGN2025 Vivianne Vleeshouwers on potato resistance and Phytophthora diversity- and this slide of her work is part of my lectures - high throughput discovery of resistant germplasm/R gene loci
July 12, 2025 at 1:53 PM
#OMGN2025 Vivianne Vleeshouwers on potato resistance and Phytophthora diversity- and this slide of her work is part of my lectures - high throughput discovery of resistant germplasm/R gene loci
Firing the scientists who maintain the National Plant Germplasm System jeopardizes 127 years of agricultural genetic preservation.
March 24, 2025 at 12:54 AM
Firing the scientists who maintain the National Plant Germplasm System jeopardizes 127 years of agricultural genetic preservation.
Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Sudden Death Syndrome Resistance in Germplasm from the USDA Soybean Collection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.29.755259v1
October 5, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Sudden Death Syndrome Resistance in Germplasm from the USDA Soybean Collection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.29.755259v1
Diane Saunders addressing the breakdown of resistance of the Yr15 tandem kinase in the UK. Nice identification of promising germplasm from a landrace collection. #PPATH2026
September 10, 2026 at 10:48 AM
Diane Saunders addressing the breakdown of resistance of the Yr15 tandem kinase in the UK. Nice identification of promising germplasm from a landrace collection. #PPATH2026
The genetic heritage of our food system is conserved by US federal employees who are at risk of losing their ability to protect collections of plants and germplasm we require as we face the triple threat of crop disease, climate change, and species extinction. 🧪 🌍 🌱
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...
Opinion | Why Did Elon Musk Go After Bunkers Full of Seeds? (Gift Article)
Gene banks are like a survivalist cache: our nation’s safeguard against all future challenges to growing the food we need.
www.nytimes.com
March 22, 2025 at 6:51 PM
The genetic heritage of our food system is conserved by US federal employees who are at risk of losing their ability to protect collections of plants and germplasm we require as we face the triple threat of crop disease, climate change, and species extinction. 🧪 🌍 🌱
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/22/o...
🍁 agriculture.canada.ca is hiring Research Scientists 🧪
1️⃣Precision Agriculture
2️⃣Plant Physiology
3️⃣Precision Fermentation Specialist
4️⃣Crop Breeding Tool Innovation driven by AI
5️⃣Pulse Crop Trait and Germplasm Dev.
6️⃣Climate-smart Digital Agronomist
7️⃣Precision Horticulture
🔗 tinyurl.com/2fjvyx4n
1️⃣Precision Agriculture
2️⃣Plant Physiology
3️⃣Precision Fermentation Specialist
4️⃣Crop Breeding Tool Innovation driven by AI
5️⃣Pulse Crop Trait and Germplasm Dev.
6️⃣Climate-smart Digital Agronomist
7️⃣Precision Horticulture
🔗 tinyurl.com/2fjvyx4n
Job search
tinyurl.com
April 1, 2025 at 3:08 AM
🍁 agriculture.canada.ca is hiring Research Scientists 🧪
1️⃣Precision Agriculture
2️⃣Plant Physiology
3️⃣Precision Fermentation Specialist
4️⃣Crop Breeding Tool Innovation driven by AI
5️⃣Pulse Crop Trait and Germplasm Dev.
6️⃣Climate-smart Digital Agronomist
7️⃣Precision Horticulture
🔗 tinyurl.com/2fjvyx4n
1️⃣Precision Agriculture
2️⃣Plant Physiology
3️⃣Precision Fermentation Specialist
4️⃣Crop Breeding Tool Innovation driven by AI
5️⃣Pulse Crop Trait and Germplasm Dev.
6️⃣Climate-smart Digital Agronomist
7️⃣Precision Horticulture
🔗 tinyurl.com/2fjvyx4n
Hot off the pixels & Postcript press...
"Stalking the Wild Weed" AKA "Searching for Stems & Seeds Again"
With all gratitude to collaborators:
"Genetic diversity, population structure, and cannabinoid variation in feral Cannabis sativa germplasm from the United States"🧪
rdcu.be/euiXq
"Stalking the Wild Weed" AKA "Searching for Stems & Seeds Again"
With all gratitude to collaborators:
"Genetic diversity, population structure, and cannabinoid variation in feral Cannabis sativa germplasm from the United States"🧪
rdcu.be/euiXq
Genetic diversity, population structure, and cannabinoid variation in feral Cannabis sativa germplasm from the United States
Scientific Reports - Genetic diversity, population structure, and cannabinoid variation in feral Cannabis sativa germplasm from the United States
rdcu.be
July 1, 2025 at 5:17 PM
Hot off the pixels & Postcript press...
"Stalking the Wild Weed" AKA "Searching for Stems & Seeds Again"
With all gratitude to collaborators:
"Genetic diversity, population structure, and cannabinoid variation in feral Cannabis sativa germplasm from the United States"🧪
rdcu.be/euiXq
"Stalking the Wild Weed" AKA "Searching for Stems & Seeds Again"
With all gratitude to collaborators:
"Genetic diversity, population structure, and cannabinoid variation in feral Cannabis sativa germplasm from the United States"🧪
rdcu.be/euiXq
BUT, there are areas of knowledge in the world today where there really is Lore. One of my favorites is in plant breeding. Suppose you decide you want to breed up apple-pear hybrids. Guess what, there have been experiments like that. But can you get the germplasm?
May 1, 2026 at 2:02 PM
BUT, there are areas of knowledge in the world today where there really is Lore. One of my favorites is in plant breeding. Suppose you decide you want to breed up apple-pear hybrids. Guess what, there have been experiments like that. But can you get the germplasm?
Proud to share our latest published work on moisture responsive root development-a process we call hydropatterning! We find that this process has been under differential selection during maize breeding and the gaseous hormone ethylene prevents branching in air.
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
Moisture-responsive root-branching pathways identified in diverse maize breeding germplasm
Plants grow complex root systems to extract unevenly distributed resources from soils. Spatial differences in soil moisture are perceived by root tips, leading to the patterning of new root branches t...
www.science.org
February 6, 2025 at 7:47 PM
Proud to share our latest published work on moisture responsive root development-a process we call hydropatterning! We find that this process has been under differential selection during maize breeding and the gaseous hormone ethylene prevents branching in air.
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
www.science.org/doi/epdf/10....
The USDA actually keeps a big set of orchards just holding germplasm, and often all we know about a particular tree is that it got to them some time in the 80s after some nerds brought it back from a trip to rural Romania, or whatever.
May 1, 2026 at 2:02 PM
The USDA actually keeps a big set of orchards just holding germplasm, and often all we know about a particular tree is that it got to them some time in the 80s after some nerds brought it back from a trip to rural Romania, or whatever.
Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Sudden Death Syndrome Resistance in Germplasm from the USDA Soybean Collection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.29.755259v1
October 5, 2026 at 5:11 PM
Genome-Wide Association Mapping of Sudden Death Syndrome Resistance in Germplasm from the USDA Soybean Collection https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.09.29.755259v1
Hey ATCC, what was that about the initiative to sequence your entire collection for the benefit of everyone? You paywalled the genetic data whose germplasm you did not source yourself. Please explain as I'm failing to understand the logic here. Why not upload to GenBank?
November 17, 2024 at 9:31 PM
Hey ATCC, what was that about the initiative to sequence your entire collection for the benefit of everyone? You paywalled the genetic data whose germplasm you did not source yourself. Please explain as I'm failing to understand the logic here. Why not upload to GenBank?
ICYMI: 📻 BBC Radio 4 Farming Today presenter Anna Hill visited us to interview Dr Noam Chayut, Germplasm Resource Unit Manager, as part of her programme's week-long focus on pulses and legumes.
Catch up from 4.40: okt.to/csWH6w
Catch up from 4.40: okt.to/csWH6w
May 2, 2025 at 5:51 PM
ICYMI: 📻 BBC Radio 4 Farming Today presenter Anna Hill visited us to interview Dr Noam Chayut, Germplasm Resource Unit Manager, as part of her programme's week-long focus on pulses and legumes.
Catch up from 4.40: okt.to/csWH6w
Catch up from 4.40: okt.to/csWH6w
Hi there! I want to show you a cool feature on SorghumBase.org, a permanently-funded genomic and genetic database for people who work in the globally important crop sorghum.
You can search for gene models that have germplasm with disruptive SNPs and quickly order them from seed repositories. 🧵
You can search for gene models that have germplasm with disruptive SNPs and quickly order them from seed repositories. 🧵
November 15, 2024 at 6:28 PM
Hi there! I want to show you a cool feature on SorghumBase.org, a permanently-funded genomic and genetic database for people who work in the globally important crop sorghum.
You can search for gene models that have germplasm with disruptive SNPs and quickly order them from seed repositories. 🧵
You can search for gene models that have germplasm with disruptive SNPs and quickly order them from seed repositories. 🧵