Launching a new journal: Biological Diversity

Biological Diversity is a new, open access, not-for-profit journal specializing in research that explores biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of resources. It integrates botanical, zoological, microbiological, taxonomic, phylogenetic, genomic, ecological, climatological, economic, and sociological disciplines. Wiley is the publisher.

Avena longiglumis: a 3,961 Mb diploid oat genome sequence assembly

The study presents the chromosome-level genome assembly of Avena longiglumis, a diploid oat species. The assembly is high-quality, with 99% completeness and 40,845 annotated protein-coding genes. It provides insights into genome evolution, expansion, and structural variations, offering valuable information for oat breeding and functional genomics. Additionally, mitochondrial genome and comparative studies have been conducted.

Towards a banana pangenome: a new chromosome assembly in Musaceae

Our fascinating research on the diversity of genomes within the banana family in The genome assembly of Musa beccarii & evolution of banana family genomes: extensive chromosomal rearrangements & genome expansion by Zheng-Feng Wang, Mathieu Rouard @m_rouard, Gaetan Droc @GaetanDroc, Pat (J S) Heslop-Harrison @Pathh1, Xue-Jun Ge. GigaScience, Volume 12, 2023, giad005, https://doi.org/10.1093/gigascience/giad005 @Gigascience 🍌🧬#GenomeAssembly…

Chromosomal landscapes of Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs) integrated in the sheep nuclear genome

Sarbast Ihsan Mustafa, Trude Schwarzacher and John S. Heslop-Harrison The Nature and Chromosomal Landscape of Endogenous Retroviruses (ERVs) Integrated in the Sheep Nuclear Genome. DNA 2022, 2(1), 86-103; Free full text: https://doi.org/10.3390/dna2010007 Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) represent genomic components of retroviral origin that are found integrated in the genomes of various species of vertebrates. These genomic…

Conservation, divergence and functions of centromeric satellite DNA families in the Bovidae

350. Escudeiro A, Adega F, Robinson TJ, Heslop-Harrison JS, Chaves R. 2019. Conservation, divergence, and functions of centromeric satellite DNA families in the Bovidae. Genome Biology and Evolution 11(4):1152–1165. doi:10.1093/gbe/evz061 https://doi.org/10.1093/gbe/evz061 (Open access) Repetitive satellite DNA (satDNA) sequences are abundant in eukaryote genomes, with a structural and functional role in centromeric function. We analysed the nucleotide…

Bovine satellite DNAs and a history of the evolution of complexity and its impact in the Bovidae family

348. Escudeiro A, Ferreira D, Mendes-da-Silva A, Heslop-Harrison JS, Adega F, Chaves R. 2019. Bovine satellite DNAs–a history of the evolution of complexity and its impact in the Bovidae family. European Zoological Journal. 2019 Jan 1 86(1):20-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/24750263.2018.1558294 (Open access) Despite the many questions regarding satellite DNA sequences and their cellular roles, the evolutionary history of…

Enset in Ethiopia as a poorly characterized but resilient starch staple: review article

349. Borrell JS, Biswas MK, Goodwin M, Blomme G, Schwarzacher T, Heslop-Harrison JS, Wendawek AM, Berhanu A, Kallow S, Janssens S, Molla EL, Davis AP, Woldeyes F, Willis K, Demissew S, Wilkin P. 2019. Enset in Ethiopia: a poorly characterized but resilient starch staple. Annals of Botany 123: mcy214 online first https://doi.org/10.1093/aob/mcy214 (freely available download) Author version: borrell_enset_review_author_version_plusfiguresauthorversionDownload • Background Enset…

Perspectives on research with varietal diversity and sustainable utilization in enset (Ensete banana)

347. Wilkin P, Davis A, Demissew S, Etherington T, Goodwin M, Heslop-Harrison P, Schwarzacher T, Willis K. 2018. A perspective to enhance innovative research with emphasis on varietal diversity and sustainable utilization of enset (Ensete ventricosum). Ethiopian Journal of Biological Sciences 17(Suppl.): 201–209. Wilkin et al. Perspectives for research and enset. Ethiopian J Biol Sci…

IAEA-FAO Manual on mutation breeding and introduction to plant breeding and selection

346. Nielen S., Forster BP, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2018. Mutagen effects in the first generation after seed treatment: biological effects of mutation treatments. Chapter 4 In: FAO/IAEA. Manual on Mutation Breeding – Third edition. Spencer-Lopes MM, Forster BP, Jankuloski L (eds), Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. Rome, Italy. 301 pp. Free download of whole book:…

Obituary for Dr Mark Goodwin

I am so saddened to write about the sudden death of my good friend, colleague and co-project leader, Mark Goodwin. We had very extensive common interests in the application and delivery of research for developing countries, research ethics, and in the role and importance of tertiary education and pedagogy. His inputs to my thinking about…

Biodiversity in Ethiopian linseed: molecular characterization of landraces

342. Mhiret WN, Heslop-Harrison JS. 2018. Biodiversity in Ethiopian linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.): molecular characterization of landraces and some wild species. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution 65: 1603–1614. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10722-018-0636-3 or author version: Linseed Linum Ethiopia Molecular Diversity Worku Mhiret GRACE 2018 Author Version Molecular characterization of germplasm is important for sustainable exploitation of crops. DNA diversity was…

ImmunoFISH – Simultaneous visualisation of proteins and DNA sequences gives insight into meiotic processes in nuclei of grasses

Sepsi A, Fábián A, Jäger K, Heslop-Harrison JS, Schwarzacher T. ImmunoFISH: simultaneous visualisation of proteins and DNA sequences gives insight into meiotic processes in nuclei of grasses. Frontiers in Plant Science. 9: 1193. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2018.01193 ImmunoFISH is a method combining immunolabelling (IL) with fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) to simultaneously detect the nuclear distribution of proteins and specific DNA…