Ex Situ Conservation of PGR - Preparatory action · Centre for Genetic Resources, The Netherlands (CGN) Ex Situ Conservation of PGR this presentation introduction ex situ conservation

Centre for Genetic Resources, The Netherlands (CGN)

Ex Situ Conservation of PGR

Theo van Hintum Centre for Genetic Resources, The Netherlands (CGN)

Preparatory Action GR, Final Conference June 9th, 2016, Brussels



this presentation

● introduction

● ex situ conservation in the spectrum of methodologies

● ex situ conservation and its spectrum of actors

● elements of ex situ conservation

● assuring quality

● ex situ conservation standards

● quality management

● conclusions



genetic diversity needs to be conserved and made available

● ex situ in genebanks

● on-farm in ‘traditional’ farms or gardens

● in situ in nature reserves


awareness raising ++ +++ +

adaptation +++


spectrum of PGR conservation approaches

in situ on-farm ex situ

conservation of

common crops + +++

special crops + +

CWR +++ +

access to PGR material and data

+ +++

value chain development

+++



spectrum of ex situ PGR conservation actors

● high global interdependence

(Source: Khoury et al. 2015)

Calories in regional food supplies and

their origins





● world-wide network of genebanks

(Source: WIEWS 2009)

Genebanks with more than 1000 accessions (Source: WIEWS 2009)





● world-wide network of genebanks ● permafrost back-up facility at Svalbard





● world-wide network of genebanks ● permafrost back-up facility at Svalbard ● global information infra-structure



quality is an issue

● maintenance of germplasm is difficult and expensive

● access to data and material is often second priority

● continuity not always guaranteed

● often funding on project basis

● limited attractiveness to funding

once lost = lost for ever

collaboration depends on quality and continuity



types of ex situ conservation

● seed genebank

● seeds of orthodox seeded species

● dryers (15°C / 15%RH) and freezers (-18°C)

● field genebank

● plants or trees of clonally propagated crops

● fields or pots with plants or trees

● in vitro culture and cryopreservation genebank

● plantlets or meristems of clonally propagated crops

● tubes in slow-growth conditions or straws in

nitrogen tanks



elements ex situ conservation

● acquiring material

● deciding on collection composition

● collecting, buying, requesting

● managing physical material

● handling, storage, monitoring, regeneration, distribution

● managing information

● passport, phenotypic, logistic and x-omic data

● database, interfaces and website

● handling legal issues

● sMTA, NP, im- and export permits, phytosanitary statements



elements ex situ conservation

● standards exist

● FAO 2014

● used as a reference

● at times academic

not pragmatic

“Viability monitoring test intervals should be set at one-third

of the time predicted for viability to fall to 85 percent of

initial viability or lower depending on the species or specific

accessions, but no longer than 40 years.”



quality can be managed

● principles of quality management

● say what you do, do what you say, have someone check it

● additional elements

● stay critical, look for improvements

● formal quality management systems

● ISO 9001:2015

● external quality auditing services

● accredited commercial companies




● CGN first genebank to be ISO9001 certified

● requirement ‘statutory research task’

● basis for collaboration

● covers all CGN activities

● detailed Quality Manual

● now also IPK and several CGIAR

genebanks have QMS

● others are interested




● however: there is a cost to QMS

● increased administration

● reduced flexibility

● internal and external audits

● quality management will often have a low priority



conclusions

● conservation of PGR is a collaborative effort ● a range of methodologies is available ● ex situ is strong on the conservation and access side

● a global infrastructure for ex situ conservation exists

● ex situ methodology is well established and reliable ● standards exist

● quality and continuity of operations is vital for

effectiveness and efficiency ● quality can and should be managed ● collaboration, based on quality, will increase effectiveness

and efficiency



conclusions

● incentives are needed to stimulate collaboration (because it’s not happing otherwise)

coordination ➠ funds ➠ quality ➠ collaboration

Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands


feel free to ask the rest !

There are two basic rules for giving a presentation:

1 – don’t tell everything


Thank you for your attention !

Genetic resources are useful, pretty and tasteful

Genetic resources are the food on your plate


Thank you for your attention !

http://www.wageningenur.nl/en/Expertise-Services/Legal-research-tasks/Centre-for-Genetic-Resources-the-Netherlands-1/Centre-for-Genetic-Resources-the-Netherlands-1/Expertise-areas/Plant-Genetic-Resources.htm

Documents

Ex Situ Conservation of PGR - Preparatory action · Centre for Genetic Resources, The Netherlands (CGN) Ex Situ Conservation of PGR this presentation introduction ex situ conservation