Sustainable food systems-a health perspective.

Malnutrition in all forms, ranging from undernourishment to obesity and associated diet-related diseases, is one of the leading causes of death worldwide, while food systems often have major environmental impacts. Rapid global population growth and increases in demands for food and changes in dietary habits create challenges to provide universal access to healthy food without creating negative environmental, economic, and social impacts. This article discusses opportunities for and challenges to sustainable food systems from a human health perspective by making the case for avoiding the transition to unhealthy less sustainable diets (using India as an exemplar), reducing food waste by changing consumer behaviour (with examples from Japan), and using innovations and new technologies to reduce the environmental impact of healthy food production. The article touches upon two of the challenges to achieving healthy sustainable diets for a global population, i.e., reduction on the yield and nutritional quality of crops (in particular vegetables and fruits) due to climate change; and trade-offs between food production and industrial crops. There is an urgent need to develop and implement policies and practices that provide universal access to healthy food choices for a growing world population, whilst reducing the environmental footprint of the global food system.

Development and characterization of microsatellite markers for Lilium longiflorum (Liliaceae).

PREMISE OF THE STUDY: Ten microsatellite primers were developed to obtain information on genetic variation in Lilium longiflorum, a bulbous species showing high intraspecific genetic differentiation. • METHODS AND RESULTS: Of 61 microsatellite loci isolated using the dual suppression PCR technique, 10 loci were effective to characterize and estimate genetic variation in two populations of L. longiflorum. The number of alleles at each locus was different between the populations (averages = 3.2 and 10.3 alleles per locus), and the mean observed heterozygosity values were 0.245 and 0.732. • CONCLUSIONS: Our results demonstrate that there is significant genetic variation between the populations and that the microsatellite markers developed in this study will be useful tools for the investigation of the genetic structure and mating system of natural L. longiflorum populations.

Hybridization and asymmetric introgression between Rhododendron eriocarpum and R. indicum on Yakushima Island, southwest Japan.

We examined natural hybridization between two morphologically and ecologically divergent species on Yakushima Island-the light-purple flowered Rhododendron eriocarpum native to seaside habitats and the red flowered R. indicum native to riverside habitats. By investigation of morphological traits and amplified fragment length polymorphisms (AFLP) we found that hybrid individuals morphologically and genetically intermediate between the two species grow mainly in the seaside areas of the island. The degree of morphological and genetic variation was different among the seaside hybrid populations. Although most pollinator species were exclusive to one of the two flower color groups, the halictine bees of Lasioglossum were observed in both the color types. The crucial interspecific incompatibility after pollination has not been previously described. Geographic distance between the populations is likely to be an important primary factor in bringing about natural hybridization and determining the degree of introgression between R. eriocarpum and R. indicum. The fact that hybrids occur mostly in the seaside area on Yakushima Island indicates that asymmetrical introgression occurs from R. indicum to R. eriocarpum. Alternatively, strong habitat-mediated selection from recurrent floods may prevent the hybrids from colonizing riverside habitats.