Whole-genome resequencing of wild and domestic sheep identifies genes associated with morphological and agronomic traits
Understanding the genetic changes underlying phenotypic variation in sheep (Ovis aries) may facilitate our efforts towards further improvement. Here, we report the deep resequencing of 248 sheep including the wild ancestor (O. orientalis)...
Transferring diversity of goat grass to farmers’ fields through the development of synthetic hexaploid wheat
Genetic variation in wheat is needed to address global food security challenges, particularly as climates change. Crop wild relatives are unique reservoirs of useful alleles for crop improvement and are important components of genebank...
Detection of Wolbachia Infections in Natural and Laboratory Populations of the Moroccan Hessian Fly, Mayetiola destructor (Say)
Mayetiola destructor (Hessian fly) is a destructive pest of wheat in several parts of the world. Here, we investigated the presence of reproductive symbionts and the effect of the geographical location on the bacterial community associated to...
A gap analysis modelling framework to prioritize collecting for ex situ conservation of crop landraces
The conservation and effective use of crop genetic diversity are crucial to overcome challenges related to human nutrition and agricultural sustainability. Farmers’ traditional varieties (“landraces”) are major sources of genetic variation. The...
Multi-criteria assessment of the sustainability of farming systems in the reclaimed desert lands of Egypt
On newly cultivated lands in deserts as in the majority of dryland areas, the sustainability of agricultural systems is often debated in terms of socioeconomic viability and agro-ecological longevity. In these contexts, livestock production...
Intra-cultivar variability at microsatellite loci in date palm cultivars across the GCC countries
In this study, we characterized 30 date palm trees of Khalas cultivar from the GCC countries, along with seven male trees from Qatar, using 14 microsatellite loci. The results showed that the microsatellites [(GA)n] in the date palm cultivar...
Scaling up community-based goat breeding programmes via multi-stakeholder collaboration
Community-based livestock breeding programmes (CBBPs) have emerged as a potential approach to implement sustainable livestock breeding in smallholder systems. In Malawi and Uganda, goat CBBPs were introduced to improve production and...
Increased number of large non‐atretic follicles and co‐dominance effects account for high litter sizes in Bonga sheep
To understand the ovarian basis for prolificacy of Bonga sheep, a total of 31 ewes were selected based on litter size (LS) records and divided into two groups: High Prolificacy (HP) (n = 20) with LS ≥ 2 and Low Prolificacy (LP) (n = 11) with LS...
Combining remote sensing and modeling approaches to assess soil salinity in irrigated areas of the Aral Sea Basin
Accurate assessment of the soil salinization is an important step for mitigation of agricultural land degradation. Remote sensing (RS) is widely used for salinity assessment, but knowledge on prediction precision is lacking. ARS-based salinity...
