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

Characterization, evaluation and documentation
All collections are subject to characterization and evaluation. Accessions are screened for 3
successive years in fields or greenhouses and laboratories. As a rule, standard variety or set of
varieties are included both to monitor within trial, and for trial to trial variation. Emphasis has
been placed on yield compenents and yield related characters, disease resistance and tolerance to
stress and adverse conditions. Most of the accessions have been evaluated. Computerized
passport data have all accessions and evaluation data 68% of accessions. Best documented are
cereals and grasses, hop and tobacco. In grasses over 83% of the accessions have both passport
and evaluation data, in hop and tobacco around 61%, in cereals around 73% and in large seed
legumes around 62%. For the remaining collections less than 60% of the accessions have both
kinds of information (fig.2).
Storage of seeds and clones
Different storage forms were applied to all accessions, thereof to accessions 43,971 in the longterm
store. The germplasm has been maintained as seed in controlled temperature conditions in
two chambers with -15 o C and four with +4 o C 168 m 3 each located at the Plant Breeding and
Acclimatization Institute at Radzików. Prior to storage, samples undergo routine cleaning, drying
to 5-7% water content and are checked for viability (which should not be lower than 85%), then
packed in glass jars (active collection) and in small metal cans (base collection) and labeled. The
viability control is accomplished currently at a special laboratory. Seed samples of less than 80%
germination capacity are reproduced at a full preservation of genetic purity principles. Methods
applied are dictated by the reproductive biology of the plant in question.
Collection of horticultural and hop plants have been preserved as tubers under controlled
conditions but some particularly valuble accessions of potato have been stored using in vitro
meristem tip culture. The remaining objects are kept in store rooms of coperating units or exist
in the form of orchards, hop plantation and berry shrubs. The status of germplasm preservation
is illustrated by fig.3.
Future prospects
During several years of activities Polish Gene Bank has developed, in cooperation with other gene
banks, serious technology of ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources. Ex situ conservation
of plant genetic resources requires very high operational standards and procedures, which are not
aviable by other organization (eg. botanical gardens) maintaining plant genetic resources. From
other hand important task to be resolved is a preservation of wild relatives of crops which can be
done by in situ conservation using existing organization of nature protection. New philosophy of
nature conservation cross traditional understanding of nature conservation. Especially an idea of
preservation of biodiversity needs new solutions. The strategy is the attempt to treat in an
integrated fashion, four major levels of biodiversity- at the molecular level with ex-situ genome
conservation (gene bank), at the species level, at the habitat or community level, and at the
landscape level. In case of new possibilites activity of gene bank will join new environmental
programmes, this means that gene bank potential ex situ conservation will support complex
environmental protection.