This article links the transnational environmental history of agriculture with the history of racial formation and immigration in the United States. Focusing on the San Joaquin Valley of California and its global connections, the account explains how the region’s nascent late-nineteenth-century bounty derived in part from both crops and people with origins in the Ottoman empire. Seeds for figs, grapes, and melons all made their way from the Ottoman empire to the United States, and so, too, did Armenians. The article thus first offers historical and spatial precision to the oft-repeated description of California as ‘Mediterranean’, rooting it in the people and plants that made it so rather than taking it for granted as a climatic descriptor. Second, it accounts for the varied racial formations of Armenians. They were at once settlers redeeming a desert land but also, in the eyes of their detractors, they dangerously hailed from Asia. Compared at different times to African Americans, Native Americans, Turks, and others, Armenians occupied a precarious place in the American racial hierarchy.

This article uses baseline data from an observational study to estimate the determinants of racial and gender disparities in obesity. Samples of low-income workers in Minneapolis and Raleigh reveal that respondents in Minneapolis have lower body mass indices (BMIs) than respondents in Raleigh. There are large, statistically significant race and gender effects in estimates of BMI that explain most of the disparity between the two cities. Accounting for intersectionality—the joint impacts of being Black and a woman—reveals that almost all the BMI gaps between Black women in Minneapolis and Raleigh can be explained by age and education differences.

Stripe rust caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici (Pst), is a devastating fungal disease of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). The best economical technique for disease control is breeding for genetic resistance to stripe rust. To find resistance genes in landrace PI388222 from Pakistan, a segregating population was developed by a cross between PI388222 and susceptible Australian spring wheat line Avocet ‘S’. The F2:4 seeds were harvested and seeds were planted in the greenhouse of Washington State University Pullman, to grow F4:5 recombinant inbred lines (RIL). A variable set of seedling reactions were noted when a set of 136 F5 and parental lines were screened with four Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici races (PSTv-37, PSTv-40, PSTv-4 and PSTv-51). The great proportion of RILs showed resistant reaction displayed by the RILs was against PSTv-40, for which 85% of the RILs showed resistant reaction, while less resistance to the race PSTv-37 was detected against which the resistance was for only 49% of the RILs. The RIL population was further evaluated at two locations; Palouse Conservation Field Station (PCFS) and Mount Vernon (MV). In MV field, 76% of RILs displayed resistant reaction while 15% of RILs exhibited moderate reaction. About 53% of RILs exhibited resistant reaction to four P. tritici races that were used in glasshouse screening and they were also resistant in field environments at PCFS and MV. This study demonstrates that landrace comprises partial resistance in the range of resistant to moderately resistant lines.

Germplasm of common beans from the Mesoamerican gene pool races: Durango, Jalisco, Mesoamerica and Guatemala have highest genetic variation for the crop's improvement. The objective was to assign 50 common bean germplasm in Uganda into its gene pool races based on analyses of population structure. Secondly, to estimate heritability and effects of genotype × environment (GXE) interaction on common bean agronomic and yield traits in space and time. Sample genomic DNA was amplified in 2011 with 22 Simple sequence repeat markers (SSRs) and alleles separated using capillary electrophoresis. Field evaluations were conducted in 2010 and 2011 at NaCRRI and 2015 at CIAT – Kawanda. Multivariate analyses of SSRs data identified four subgroups within the germplasm: K4.1–K4.4, with corresponding Wrights fixation indices (FST) as 0.1829 for K4.1, 0.1585 for K4.4, 0.1579 for K4.2 and least for K4.3 at 0.0678. Gene pool race admixtures in the population (14%) were notable and attributed to gene flow. Four superior parents currently used in improving resistance to major diseases grouped as; Jalisco for MLB49-89A; Mesoamerica for MCM5001 and G2333; Durango for MEXICO 54. Heritability values for yield traits estimated using phenotypic data from above fixed parents, was above 0.81. Season and location had significant effect (P < 0.05) on numbers of: flower buds per inflorescence, pod formation and weight of 100 seeds. The findings will improve understanding of co-evolutionary relationships between bean hosts and pathogens for better disease management and will broaden the germplasm base for improving other tropical production constraints.

Breed risk status assessment methods are key components of country-based early warning and response systems. In this study, a multi-indicator method was developed to assess the risk status of livestock populations. Six indicators were used: (i) the current number of breeding females; (ii) the change in the number of breeding females over the last 5 years or generations (depending on the species); (iii) percentage of cross-breeding; (iv) effective population size; (v) breeders organization and technical support; and (vi) socio-economic context. To make these indicators comparable, observed values were converted into scores on a six-point scale (from 0 = no threat to 5 = maximum threat); a specific conversion method was used for each indicator. For each breed, the different scores were analysed graphically and an overall score was calculated by averaging the six separate indicator scores. This approach was applied to 178 French local breeds, belonging to ten different species: horse, donkey, goat, pig, chicken, turkey, goose and Pekin duck. A large percentage of local breeds were found to be at risk to be lost for farming, although the results were species dependent. All local equine and pig breeds, as well as almost all local poultry breeds appeared to be endangered. About 80 percent of local goat and cattle breeds, and half local sheep breeds were also found to be at risk. The usefulness of this method with regards to conservation strategies and public policy is discussed.

Foxtail millet (Setaria italica (L.) P. Beauv.) is an ideal crop for changing climate and food habits of peoples due to its short duration, high photosynthetic efficiency, nutritional richness and fair resistance to pest and diseases. However, foxtail millet yields are low mainly due to the lack of effort for its improvement and the lack of proper utilization of existing genetic variability. To enhance the use of diverse germplasm in breeding programmes, a core collection in foxtail millet consisting of 155 accessions was established. Core collection accessions were fingerprinted using 84 markers (81 simple sequence repeats (SSRs) and three Expressed Sequence Tag (EST)-SSRs). Our results showed the presence of greater molecular diversity in the foxtail millet core collection. The 84 markers detected a total of 1356 alleles with an average of 16.14 alleles (4–35) per locus. Of these, 368 were rare alleles, 906 common alleles and 82 the most frequent alleles. Sixty-one unique alleles that were specific to a particular accession and useful for germplasm identification were also detected. In this study, the genetic diversity of foxtail millet was fairly correlated well with racial classification, and the race Indica showed a greater genetic distance from the races Maxima and Moharia. The pairwise estimate of dissimilarity was >0.50 except in 123 out of 11,935 pairs which indicated a greater genetic variability. Two hundred and fifty pairs of genetically most diverse accessions were identified. This large molecular variation observed in the core collection could be utilized effectively by breeders or researchers for the selection of diverse parents for breeding cultivars and the development of mapping populations.

Breed performs a central concept for animal science. It is used to define subdivisions of domestic species. This work analyses the evolution through time of breed concept, and the impact of science on breed evolution. Domestication effects are discussed from genetic point of view and breeds were classified as: primary, secondary, synthetic or mendelian. The concept was analysed within South American domestic camelids in which only primary breeds exist. Misleading concepts on Suri alpacas, white coated llamas-alpacas and pure breeds were also clarified. It was finally concluded that some private enterprise, NGO's and public organisations must follow the practical steps of selection to maintain the breed standards of llamas and alpacas.