Network for in situ Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources in Focus During European Conference

2021.07.07

The importance of creating a European network for in situ conservation of plant genetic resources was discussed during the conference "Ensuring Diversity for Food and Agriculture".

A four-day digital conference was recently held with a focus on issues related to in situ

conservation (conservation on site) and the sustainable use of crop wild relatives and landraces. The lecturers spoke, among other things, about the importance of creating networks of in situ

reserves in Europe due to the continent's high concentration of crop wild relatives and landraces.

The conference "Ensuring Diversity for Food and Agriculture

" was arranged as part of the

project in collaboration with

and

. The conference, which was planned to be held in Portugal, was organized online due to the ongoing pandemic with 16 lecturers as well as roundtable and group discussions.

Permanent network

NordGen participates in the Farmer's Pride project, which aims to improve the in situ

conservation of Europe's plant genetic resources. The conference shows the large amount of knowledge about landraces and crop wild relatives that has been collected and analyzed in recent years. - With this knowledge, we are in a better position than ever to implement scientifically substantiated in situ

conservation. There is an urgent need to strengthen the protection for conservation of genetic resources in situ

. If we do not do this, we risk losing much of the biodiversity that in the future may become important in adapting our crops to climate change and new diseases, says Ulrika Carlson-Nilsson, one of NordGen's plant experts who has followed the work within Farmer's Pride. One goal of the project is to create a permanent network to preserve important European populations of crop wild relatives and landraces. This was also the theme when speaker Nigel Maxted, Professor of Plant Genetic Conservation at the University of Birmingham, gave his presentation. Plant breeding companies are now in great need of access to broader genetic diversity to produce climate-smart plant varieties. – The establishment of a network for on farm and in situ

conservation of crop wild relatives and landraces will, I believe, at least double the amount of genetic diversity available to farmers and breeders. Two major studies have come up with figures of 16 to 35 percent of crop wild relatives are threatened with immediate extinction, says Nigel Maxted. Therefore, it is important to create a permanent network for the in situ

reserves of European crop wild relatives and landraces. According to Maxted, it makes sense that extensive in situ

conservation is initiated in Europe and he highlighted two studies (Castañeda-Álvares et al

2016 and Vincent et al

2019) where the continent is described as a key area with high concentration and diversity of crop wild relatives. – So, it is appropriate for us to build the network here. If really climate change is going to have as devastating impact as we think it will, it is important to set up the network as soon as possible, says Maxted.

The first in situ network in Europe

Another speaker at the conference was Maria Bönisch, a researcher and project manager at the German Julius Kühn-Institut. Among other things, she has worked on developing a German network for in situ

conservation of wild celery, which is the first official network for crop wild relatives in Europe. The conservation work focuses on four species of crop wild relatives of celery that grow in large parts of Germany but are classified as endangered or vulnerable in the country. – Currently, we have established 17 genetic reserves for wild celery species and we have several candidates for reserves that have not been established yet. We will work to expand the celery network with more reserves. In the near future, a network for conservation of wild grapewine will hopefully also be established in Germany, says Maria Bönisch.

Useful traits

Another interesting presentation was given by José Iriondo, Professor at the Department of Biodiversity and Conservation Biology at the Universidad Rey Juan Carlos in Madrid. He talked about an extensive research project with two purposes. On the one hand, the study investigated which plant traits that are sought by European farmers and plant breeding companies. The second part of the study identified populations of landraces and crop wild relatives that likely carry these traits. In a comprehensive survey, 1492 desired traits were compiled in 62 different crops. The respondents came from 24 different countries and consisted of as many conventional producers as more small-scale companies. – This reflects the multiple factors affecting crops at different locations and farming systems. The study highlights the need for different trait adaptations and the urgency to address the lack of available sources of useful genetic diversity, says Iriondo. The study used a method called predictive characterization to identify landraces and crop wild relatives with some of the required characteristics. Among other things, acyanogenesis in populations of crop wild relatives of clover were found, several of these populations are concentrated to Scandinavia and Central Europe. This means that these wild clovers do not develop hydrogen cyanide, which can be a problem if it occurs in animal feed. – The characterization also gave some candidates to crop wild relative populations of wheat, lentils and lupins with tolerance for drought and salinity, as well as populations of wild relatives to lentils with better resistance to waterlogging, said Iriondo. NordGen's plant expert Anna Palmé is specialized in forage legumes and crop wild relatives. She has also worked within the Farmer's Pride project and was the session chair during one day at the conference. – The study presented by José Iriondo clearly shows the important traits that exist in landraces and crop wild relatives, and thus the importance of preserving them. I hope that in the coming years we will see increased protection of these genetic resources in the Nordic countries and the rest of Europe, says Palmé. The Farmer´s Pride project will soon be over, but NordGen will continue its work in this area, for example in ongoing Nordic projects on

. The top picture shows wild forest clover from NordGen's collection, this plant originates from the south of Sweden.