Early silique-shedding wild radish (Raphanus raphanistrum L.) phenotypes persist in a long-term harvest weed seed control managed field in Western Australia.

BACKGROUND: This study introduces a wild radish population collected from Yelbeni in the Western Australian grainbelt that evolved an early silique abscission (shedding) trait to persist despite long-term harvest weed seed control (HWSC) use. In 2017, field-collected seed (known herein as Yelbeni) was compared to surrounding ruderal and field-collected populations in a fully randomized common garden study. RESULTS: The Yelbeni population exhibited a higher rate of silique abscission when compared to the ruderal populations collected from the site before wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) harvest (assessed at soft dough stage, Zadoks 83). A similar common garden study was conducted in the subsequent season (2018) using progeny reproduced on a single site without stress. The HWSC-selected progeny (Yelbeni P) shed 1048 (±288) siliques before wheat maturity at the soft dough stage (Zadoks 83) compared to 25 (±7) siliques from the pooled control populations. The Yelbeni P population only flowered 6 days earlier (FT50 as determined by log-logistic analysis) than pooled control populations, which is unlikely to fully account for the increased rate of silique abscission. The Yelbeni P population also located its lowest siliques below the lowest height for harvest interception (10 cm), which is likely to increase HWSC evasion. The mechanism inducing early silique-shedding is yet to be determined; however, wild radish is known for its significant genetic variability and has demonstrated its capacity to adapt to environmental and management stresses. CONCLUSION: This study demonstrates that the repeated use of HWSC can lead to the selection of HWSC-avoidance traits including early silique-shedding before harvest and/or locating siliques below the harvest cutting height for interception. © 2024 The Authors. Pest Management Science published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Society of Chemical Industry.

The genome sequence of the flutter-wing fly, Palloptera scutellata (Macquart, 1835).

We present a genome assembly from an individual female Palloptera scutellata (the flutter-wing fly; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Pallopteridae). The genome sequence is 415.6 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 5 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 15.93 kilobases in length.

The genome sequence of the Thick-legged Hoverfly, Syritta pipiens (Linnaeus, 1758).

We present a genome assembly from an individual female Syritta pipiens (the Thick-legged Hoverfly; Arthropoda; Insecta; Diptera; Syrphidae). The genome sequence is 318.5 megabases in span. Most of the assembly is scaffolded into 5 chromosomal pseudomolecules. The mitochondrial genome has also been assembled and is 15.76 kilobases in length. Gene annotation of this assembly on Ensembl identified 18,405 protein coding genes.

Enacting a depoliticised alterity: law and traditional medicine at the World Health Organization.

This paper interrogates the depoliticising effects of a seemingly neutral regulatory drive at the heart of the World Health Organization (WHO)'s promotion of traditional medicine. Emerging at WHO in the late 1960s against a political backdrop of decolonisation and pan-Africanism, traditional medicine has continued to be promoted in subsequent decades, culminating in the latest global Traditional Medicine Strategy (2014 to 2023). Yet WHO's promotion and acceptance of traditional medicine have also become increasingly conditional upon its standardisation and regulation - something that appears fundamentally at odds with traditional medicine's heterogeneity. Drawing on insights from critical law and science and technology studies, we suggest that such a process at WHO has done more than simply disqualify the toxic and the dangerous. Rather, it has implicitly and explicitly marginalised and excluded those aspects of traditional medicine that deviate from scientific, biomedical ways of seeing, knowing and organising.