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

The Nordic Gene Bank
S. BLIXT 1
Background and Administration
The Nordic Gene Bank (NGB) is an institution which reports to the Nordic Council of Ministers, the
executive assembly for cooperation between the Nordic countries. NGB's aim is to preserve and
document the genetic variation in agricultural and horticultural plants and their wild relatives in this area.
Samples and information are freely available to plant breeders, plant scientists and other bona fide users.
Two members, one from administration and one from plant breeding, from each of the countries
(Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden) sit on the board of NGB. The Board has two regular
meetings annually. The board has a Technical Advisory Committee consisting of national sections, which
represent the view of their respective countries. NGB has internordic Crop Working Groups as expert
bodies. There are seven working groups at the moment.
The institute is based in Alnarp in the south of Sweden, 10 kilometres north of the city of Malmö. The
eleven members of staff are engaged on four-year contracts. The engagement is maximised to two
periods.
Cooperation with plant breeders is very well build out and functioning smoothly through the activities
of the working groups. Cooperation with botanic gardens is probably not of interest to any of the parties
except in exceptional cases, since botanic gardens normally work on the species diversity level and NGB
works on the infra-specific level.
1. Ex situ conservation
1.1 Conservation
Most material is preserved ex situ. Seeds are kept dry at - 20 C. Fruit trees, berries and landscape plants
are preserved in clonal archives (field genebanks) and potatoes are preserved in vitro.
NGB's seeds are stored in three different collections:
- The active collection, used for the distribution and characterization/evaluation of material;
- the base collection, for the long-term storage and to maintain genetic integrity and identy;
- The safety base collection, a duplication of the base collection, for safety storage in a container
placed in a coal mine under the permafrost on the Svalbard Islands.
Information related to the materials is stored in computerized databases. The computer system at NGB
consists of personal computers (IBM and compatibles) connected in a local area network. The database
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Author's address:
Nordic Gene Bank
P.O. Box 41
23053 Alnarp
Sweden