Genetic Resources Center:

Obligations, Challenges and Strategy Elements

Dominique Dumet

Panel review, June 2009

COLLECTIONS +28 000 accessions

+ The miscellaneous legumes…

Cowpea (53%)

Bambara ground nut

Vigna wild species

Soybean

Maize

Yam

Cassava

Banana/Plantain

COLLECTIONS +28 000 accessions

Cowpea (53%)

Bambara ground nut

Vigna wild species

Soybean

Maize

Yam

Cassava

Banana/Plantain

GERMPLASM IS

• CONSERVED

• REGENERATED

• CHARACTERISED

• DISTRIBUTED

• ACCESSIBLE

• SAFE DUPLICATED

• DOCUMENTED

» in International standards

The OBLIGATIONS

Ex situ CONSERVATION SENSUS STRICTO

5oC

-20oC

Field In vitro

-196oC

MEDIUM TERM

LONG TERM

+3500+7500+50 000

+30 00050

Some figures 2007-2008

SEED

Regeneration: 4300

Processing for storage: 2261

Processed for safe duplication: +12 000

Duplicated in Svalbard: +8000

Viability monitoring: 3179

Virus Indexing: 3569

Characterization: 491

CLONAL

Meristeming: 600

Safe duplicated in Cotonou: +2000

Characterisation: + 3500

DNA banking: 1500

Regeneration

Processing for storage

Viability monitoring

Indexing

Characterisation

Field maintenance

In vitro maintenance

In vitro introduction

Harvest date, location, year,

water content, germination,

viability. number of seed,

subculture batch, ….etc

DATA

Data management system

DOCUMENTATION/INFORMATION

Live inventory/Monitoring

Seed crop bar coding completed

In vitro genebank in progress

(Matija Obreza)

Quality Management System… Towards ISO certification

Capacity

development for GRC

staff and national partners

INTERNATIONAL STANDARDS

CONSERVATION

Meristeming, cryopreservation

(Hide Kikuno, Badara Gueye)

STABILITY and INTEGRITY Cowpea geneflow study

Yam and cassava somaclonal variation

(Vroh Bi)

CHARACTERISATION/IDENTITY

Finger printing yam and cassava collections

Cassava agromorphological description

African yam bean (morpho molecular)

(Ranjana Bhattacharjee, Paul Ilona, Vroh Bi, Daniel Adewale)

SANITATION

Antibiotic treatment (yam)

Virus elimination (cassava) – Meristeming/Cryotherapy

(Lava Kumar, Ranajit Bandyopadhyay)

Research Projects

3 main CHALLENGES

•Sustainable Conservation

•Substantial Use

•Crop Diversity Captured

3 main CHALLENGES

•Sustainable Conservation

•Substantial Use

•Crop Diversity Captured

SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION:

CASE of CASSAVA

Field bank

(5% loss)

In vitro banking

•Reduced risk loss

•Facilitated exchange

Cryopreservation

•‘Low cost’

CLONAL

CASSAVA In vitro banking

MERISTEMING

MULTIPLICATION

BANKING

Distribution

INDEXING

Cryobanking

STERILISATION

CASSAVA In vitro banking

MERISTEMING

MULTIPLICATION

BANKING

Distribution

INDEXING

Cryobanking

STERILISATION

MERISTEMING

CRYOBANKING

141

16 18 110

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Virus free Non virus free Recalcitrant Not available

Nb

of

accessio

ns

80%

MERISTEMING Reference set (GCP project) - IITA selection (175 accessions)

104 landraces + drought tolerant and other potentials

Recalcitrant

to the standard

Meristeming

= indicator

of diversity

10%

Cassava meristem cryopreservation

Freezing

Thawing/Unloading

Vitrification

PVS2

Dark (7 days)

5 weeks 12h light

Meristem

excision Loading

Cryotube 1 Cryotube 2 Cryotube 3

Cryostorage

3 months

SURVIVAL and SHOOT ELONGATION

48 accessions

Vitrification/Droplet freezing

CRYOPRESERVATION trials

0102030405060708090

100

cont

rol

Cry

otub

es1

Cry

otub

es2

cr

yotu

bes3

Su

rviv

al,

sh

oo

t p

rod

ucti

on

an

d

accessio

ns d

ead

aft

er

cry

o

(%

)

No recovery

(25%)

a

a

b

cbc

c

b

Survival

Shoot formation

Non recovering accessions(stat by Sam Korie)

Cryopreservation is in ‘domestication’

(adjustment on accession basis, somaclonal variation, LN supply)

FIELD BANK IN VITRO Cryo

Experimental

Consequences on today’s

cassava conservation strategy

FIELD BANK

10 %

recalcitrance

25 %

recalcitrance

IN VITRO CryoIN VITRO

FIELD BANK

10 %

recalcitrance

25 %

recalcitrance

IN VITRO CryoIN VITRO

Somaclonal variation?

FIELD BANK IN VITRO CryoIN VITRO

MAIN BANK SAFE DUPLICATION/

DISTRIBUTION

FIELD BANK IN VITRO CryoIN VITRO

Seed banking

MAIN BANK SAFE DUPLICATION/

DISTRIBUTION

On farm in situ

FIELD BANKIN VITROIN VITRO

Seed

banking

FIELD BANK MULTIPLICATION/

DISTRIBUTION

Cryobanking

On farm

In situ

Future?

MOSAIC OF CONSERVATION

APPROACHES

Will require global partnership

SUSTAINABLE CONSERVATION:

CASE of COWPEA

SEEDS

-20oC5oC

15 000

Accessions

Distribution

STANDARD SEED CROP STORAGE STRATEGY

Active Base

COWPEA DISTRIBUTION 1985-2008

Number of samples distributed: 34862

0

500

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

3500

4000

0 50 100 150 200

Nb of time distributed

Nb

of

ac

ce

ss

ion

s

BEST SELLER

TVu3629

Accessions distribution

Distributed

Never distributed

Non visible

4300

10815

35%

65%

COWPEA distribution pattern 1985-2008

10815 distinct accessions distributed

…4300 non visible

Cowpea viability during storage

Medium

Long term

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

1980 1980 1982 1982

Year processed for storage

Germ

inati

on

(%

) in

2009

95 97

15 000

Accessions

Distribution

Management improvement

Active Base

-20oC5oC

15 000

Accessions

Distribution

Active Base

‘Never Used’

-20oC5oC

Management improvement

-20oC

5oCDistribution

Active Base

‘Never Used’

Management improvement

+ Safe duplication

•Svalbard

•Saskatoon

•CIMMYT

-20oC

5oC

Active Base

‘Never Used’ REQUEST for

A ‘Never used’

Distribution

Management improvement

-20oC

5oC

Active Base

‘Never Used’ REQUEST for

A ‘Never used’

Regeneration

Distribution

Management improvement

Dynamic conservation

-20oC

5oC

Active Base

‘Never Used’ REQUEST for

A ‘Never used’

Regeneration

Distribution

Management improvement

Dynamic conservation – evolving system based on data analysis

3 main CHALLENGES

•Sustainable Conservation

•Substantial Use

•Crop diversity captured

Total

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Total

Drop Page Fields Here

Sum of Number of accessions

Year

Drop Series Fields Here

SUBSTANTIAL USE

Case of cowpea

COWPEA distribution pattern 1985-2008

34862 samples

Total

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Total

Drop Page Fields Here

Sum of Number of accessions

Year

Drop Series Fields Here

FUNDINGS

COWPEA distribution pattern 1985-2008

34862 samples

Minicore

Set (374)

defined

Total

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

1985

1986

1987

1988

1989

1990

1991

1992

1993

1994

1995

1996

1997

1998

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

Total

Drop Page Fields Here

Sum of Number of accessions

Year

Drop Series Fields Here

FUNDINGS

COWPEA distribution pattern 1985-2008

34862 samples

Minicore

Set (374)

defined

Minicore

requested

6 times in 2007

Distribution FUNDING/PROJECT driven

•Need for information road from Breeding/Biotech to GRC

(TL1, GCP, ….)

•More friendly user access to descriptor data

(more integrated data)

Selection based on descriptors:

•Agro-morphological

•Molecular

•Passport

Today’s used oriented traits =

•Drought tolerance

•Pest and disease resistance

•Nutritious value

MERGING Project

COLLECTIONS BREEDING/GENEBANK

Characterization (agro morphological)

Passport data revision

Core definition

Development of a ‘cassalogue’ with photographs

Friendly user search tool

(Collaboration with Paul Ilona, Ranjana Bhattacharjee)

IMPROVE USE

Case of cassava

10% distrubution

During the past 10 years

3 main CHALLENGES

•Sustainable Conservation

•Substantial Use

•Crop diversity captured

CROP DIVERSITY CAPTURE

Case of yam

Geospatial lab IITA

Some obvious

GAPS

New acquisition guided by:

•GIS analysis (temperature,

rainfall, elevation, soil,

photoperiod, production…)

(Subash Marcus, Kai Sonder)

Priority countries:

Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania,

Madagascar, Malawi

•Germplasm accessibility/

International Treaty

•TRUST Regeneration/Duplication

project

D. Bulbifera ….

‘one of the most

aggressive

and dangerous

vine in Florida’

YAM

Trust Regeneration Project

•300 from Benin

•70 from Togo

(Collaboration Maria

Ayodele)

Collecting mission in Guinea Conakry

•73 cassava

(Collaboration Paul Ilona, Sanoussi Bah)

2009 Acquisitions

The BIG CHALLENGE:

Partnership for sustainable

conservation and use

•IITA Germplasm safe duplication

•Safe duplication for National Partners

Research partners

IITA and the GLOBAL system

GENETIC RESOURCES MEGAPROGRAM?

GENETIC RESOURCES CENTER

and the CGIAR reform

GENETIC RESOURCES MEGAPROGRAM?

GENETIC RESOURCES CENTER

and the CGIAR reform

Merging per crop?

Merging activity?

GENETIC RESOURCES MEGAPROGRAM?

THE MAIN THREAT:

•GENETIC EROSION

Main causes?

CLIMATE CHANGE

AGRICULTURE INTENSIFICATION

•Work closely with varieties releasers

and farmers (collect endangered landraces)

•Develop powerful tools for identification/characterisation

•Collect in areas at risk

Strategy at Continent / Global level

Genetic Resources Center

•IITA window

•Complementary conservation approaches

•Data/information management system essential

•Need expertise and feedback from all

•Long term investment

•CRUCIAL component for FOOD security

THANK YOU

TVu 3629 ( Ife Brown ) …… Developed at the University of Ife ( OAU

Ile-Ife ) and released for cultivation

in Nigeria. Most popular Brown rough seed variety in South West

Nigeria.

TVu 14195 ( IT84S-2246-4 )…… Developed by IITA and released in

Nigeria and many West Africa

Countries. An improvement on TVu 3629. Resiatant to Aphids, Thrips

and Bruchids (storage insect).

TVu 2027…. Local Variety, originate from Northern Nigeria. Source of

Bruchid Resistant.

Have been used in several crosses in our Breeding program.

TVu 1190 ( VITA-3 ) Originate from East and Southern Africa. Now

released for cultivation

in several South America countries apart from East Africa. A good

source of vegetable leave

and grain production.