Integration of Conservation Strategies of Plant Genetic ... - Genres

available at present, in order to introduce it in breeding programmes.
6. Conclusions
Plant genetic resources activities in Italy
The safeguard of genetic resources is for sure a planetary problem, whose solution depends first of all
on the capacity of different countries to cooperate.
In Italy, the Germplasm Institute, promoting missions for germplasm exploration and collection has
contributed a lot to the preservation of the genetic patrimony left by the previous generations. Moreover,
the studies on evolution, description of genetic variability, techniques of population sampling and
multiplication, seed physiology, without any doubt have improved the management of genetic resources
as well as their utilization in breeding programmes. The activity of the Institute is directed to:
- increase the existing collections and the collection of germplasm of cultivated (tomato, etc.) and wild
(Agropyron, Aegilops, etc.) species, threatened of genetic erosion;
- extend the collaborations with national and international researchers in order to operate in a larger
context. This exigency derives from the knowledge that the study of biological diversity requires the
collaboration of researchers of different vocation, with a specialization in different fields of biology.
As far as the two methodologies of conservation are concerned, "in situ" and "ex situ", both of them are
worth of consideration because each of them compensates the weakness of the other and only an
integration of both of them allows to preserve as much as possible the richness of threatened plant forms
that represent an inestimable patrimony on which the survival of humanity depends.
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