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

germination bags and rest bags) are placed in a numbered box for long-term storage at -20° C.
The numbered boxes are placed on numbered shelves in the storage rooms grouped by crop. The
location of storage (box and shelve) is recorded in the CGN information system. A computer
terminal is present in the seed storage facility to enable direct updating of storage information in
the central collection database.
5.3 Distribution of germplasm
Requests for material by users should preferably be made in writing, on official stationary of the
organisation making the application. The request should state a description of the material needed,
a short explanation of the proposed use and the name of the person making the request.
Requests for material are handled by the responsible crop scientist and the seed manager.
Specified requests for material are checked against information on the availability of user samples.
If available, the samples are booked for distribution (number of user samples is updated and the
sample is registered as distributed). Using the storage information in the CGN information system,
the storage location is retrieved. The samples are packed in shock proof material. Additional
passport and evaluation information are supplied on demand. Phytosanitary certificates are issued
on request of the user.
6. Information management
Nearly all activities at a genebank generate some kind of information which has to be stored and
made available. The genebank information systems deal with all aspects of the genebank activities:
registration, characterization, regeneration, storage, monitoring and distribution. Information
technology is a key element of the conservation and exploitation of plant genetic resources. For
this reason CGN has devoted considerable effort into the development of what we consider good
and user-friendly applications based on the DataBase Management System (DBMS) Oracle
version 6.
A major concern of any genetic resources DBMS is that it will facilitate not only easy access for
users, but also the exchange of information with DBMS's of other collection holders. The
principle for data excahnge is not standardization, but flexibility and integrity. If the flexibility of
the sender of data is such that data of any format can be loaded, data exchange is possible. To
make exchange usefull, full interpretability of the datafiles should be guarantied.
6.1 Information management applications
Concerning the information management activities, several areas can be distinguished:
• Documentation of CGN collections (ORACLE)
• Documentation of CPRO working collections (ORACLE)
• Documentation of European collections of cultivated Brassica species with the European
Database for Brassica (ORACLE)
• Documentation of bibliographical information (CARDBOX)
• Documentation of miscellaneous information (CARDBOX)
• Documentation of information originating from other genebanks (ORACLE)
Between brackets is the name of the software programme that is used for these specific activities.