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

institute has agreed to maintain genebank material and to notify NGB when a clone is endangered.
However the main expenses are paid by the institutes themselves.
Potato
NGB has the long-term responsibility for the preservation of Nordic local potato varieties of unknown
origin, commercial varieties produced at Nordic plant breeding institutes and breeding clones with
particularly valuable traits. Old foreign varieties which were cultivated over large ares in the Nordic
countries are also included if they are not preserved elsewhere.
In 1991, because of the high cost of preserving potato clones, the Working Group decided to restrict
NGB's responsibility for commercial varieties to those varieties which have been widely used in the
Nordic countries or which have been important as parental material in Nordic breeding programs.
By the end of 1992, 54 clones had been accepted for long-term preservation and 22 had been granted
temporary status. The accepted clones are either already stored in vitro at IVK Potatis AB or still kept
at various institutes in the Nordic countries. In addition to these, a few old commercial varieties and
valuable local varieties meet the agreed criteria for maintenance, but have not yet been acquired.
The available material, 14 clones, was described in a booklet published in Swedish in 1993.
Accepted clones are made pathogen free and kept in vitro for long-term storage at IVK Potatis AB in
Umeå. For security reasons and in order to provide material for study and distribution, these clones are
grown in the field at the Norra Sunderbyn Experimental Station near Luleå. At the Swedish Seed Testing
and Certification Institute near Lund these clones are also grown in the field together with clones that
are awaiting identification.
Forage crops
Between 1979 and 1983, NGB collected forage crops in all the Nordic countries including Greenland.
Since then, forage species have been collected more sporadically. NGB also has material collected in the
1970´s before NGB was established.
The material collected was multiplied in the country of origin. Seeds from more than 2000 accessions
are now available at NGB. The rest of the material is either still vegetatively stored in the country of
origin or has been discarded.
The Working Group for Forage Crops at present mainly works on the multiplication of collected
populations which have yet to be transferred to NGB and on the rejuvenation of material from NGB:s
seed store which has low germinability. Rejuvenation is usually carried out in the country and district
of origin. In most cases the material was characterized and evaluated during rejuvenation/multiplication.
New legume material was collected in Iceland in 1992.
The collection data for NGB:s forage collections is now available upon request in the Nordic Forage
Database (NFDB). A catalogue for these collections is also available from NGB upon request (the
Nordic Forage Catalogue).
In order to study genetic diversity in a forage crop and at the same time have a collection of maximum
genetic variation available for scientists and plant breeders, the ECP/GR Working Group for Forage
Crops initiated a pilot project in 1991 with respect to a European "Core Collection" of Lolium perenne.
NGB is responsible for the Nordic contributions. Five accessions have been chosen to represent the