Dr. Ehsan Dulloo discusses conservation strategies to respond to the global loss of plant genetic resources at the 29th International Horticulture Congress, including ex situ conservation, in situ conservation, cryopreservation, seed banks and the importance of crop wild relatives. http://www.bioversityinternational.org/research-portfolio/conservation-of-crop-diversity/

1. Conservation and Availability of Plant Genetic Diversity:
Innovative Strategies and Technologies
Ehsan Dulloo, Leader Conservation and Availability Programme
Bioversity International
IHC 2014 Symposium 27 - Plant Genetic Resources for Climate Change
Brisbane, Australia, August 2014

2. Our Vision:
Agricultural biodiversity nourishes people and sustains the planet
Our Mission:
To deliver scientific evidence, management practices and policy options
to use and safeguard agricultural biodiversity to attain sustainable global
food and nutrition security.
Credit:IWMINeilPalmeri

3. • Key challenges facing food
and nutritional security
• Conservation strategies and
technologies; focusing on
status and trends of PGRFA
• Strategies for prioritizing,
measuring, and monitoring
the trends in genetic diversity
• Way forward
Overview
BioversityInternationalY.Wachira

4. 4
The 21st Century Challenge
To feed 9 billion people by 2050, food supplies need to
increase by 60% globally, and 100% in developing countries.
60%
FAO Save and Grow, 2011

5. 5
Climate Change
Climate change may reduce agricultural production 2% each decade
while demand increases 14%. Up to 40% of the world will develop
unfamiliar climates.
CCAFS Big Facts, 2014 IPCC, 2014

6. 6
Double-burden malnutrition
Once considered a high-income problem, overweight and obesity are on
the rise in low and middle-income countries, especially in urban settings.
At the same time, 1 billion people suffer from “hidden hunger.”

7. How will the world
address these
challenges?

8. Agricultural biodiversity
Increasing the sustainable use of agricultural biodiversity in production
systems, in landscapes and in diets will be an important part of the solution
to these challenges.
FAO, 2012 FAO, 2012

9. Status of Plant Genetic
Resources
• Two critical issues:
– Loss of species and
genetic diversity
– Improve optimum use of
plant genetic resources
Credit:BioversityInternationalE.Dulloo

10. 10
There are two responses to the loss of global
crop diversity:
Ex situ conservation In situ conservation
Home Gardens
On farm
Wild habitats

11. 11
Ex situ conservation
• Aim is to keep germplasm alive as
long as possible
• Reduce frequency of regeneration
- minimize genetic erosion
• Germplasm are conserved in a variety
of ways
• Seed banks
• Field genebank
• In vitro /slow growth
• Cryopreservation
• DNA Banks
• Botanic gardens

12. 12
• Geographic distribution of genebanks
with holdings of >10,000 accessions
• More than 1.4 million
germplasm accessions have
been added to ex situ
collections, 7.4 M.
• 30% of accessions are distinct
• More than 70% of the genetic
diversity of some 200-300
crops (SBSTTA, 2010)
• Global Crop Diversity Trust
established in 2004
• Establishment of the Svalbard
Global Seed Vault, a last resort
safety back-up of genetic
resources to safeguard
humanity. Source: WIEWS 2009; Country Reports;
USDA-GRIN 2009
State of ex situ conversation of plant genetic
resources since 1998

13. 13
Seed banks
• Relies on storage of dry seeds at low
temperature
• Factors affecting seed longevity:
– temperature
– Seed moisture content
– Relative Humidity
• Global, Regional, national as well as community
seed banks.
• FAO New Genebank standards 2013;
– produced one standard rather than acceptable
and preferred standards;
– acquisition, characterization, drying & storage
conditions; viability, regeneration etc.

14. 14
• Variability in seed longevity; different species shows different responses to
storage environments (Probert et al. 2009; Nagel and Borner 2009; Crawford;
et al. 2007; Walters et al., 2005)
• Potential of Ultra-dry seeds in low cost seed conservation; relationship
between critical MC, RH and storage temperature.
– Water and temperature has interacting effects on longevity
– Critical water content increased from about 1 to 4% with decreased storage
temperature from 50º to 20ºC
Seed conservation – research questions

15. 15
Field genebanks
• Field genebanks are live plant
collections for species :
• vegetatively propagated
(cassava, sweet potatoes, yams
etc.),
• Short lived plants;
• produce recalcitrant seeds
(rubber, cocoa, mango etc.)

16. 16
In vitro storage
Germplasm are kept as sterile plant
tissue or plantlets maintained either
under slow growth on nutrient gels

17. 17
Cryopreservation
• Storage of tissues in liquid nitrogen or
nitrogen vapour (-154 to -196 ° C)
• Principle - complete cessation of growth
by freezing cell division and metabolic
processes
• Successful cryopreservation - damage by
ice crystal formation is prevented or
minimized.

18. 18
Cryopreservation research
• Understanding the desiccation sensitivity of recalcitrant seeds and on
the underlying mechanism of desiccation tolerance (Engelmann and Panis,
2009; Berjak and Pammenter, 2008; Berjak, 2005).
• Development of a number of analytical tools including thermal
(Differential Scanning Calorimetry (DSC)), biochemical (sugars,
lipids, proteins) and histo-cytological analyses
• Cryopreservation methods can offer greater security for long term,
including orthodox seeds.
• Potential of cryotherapy as a way of eliminating pest and diseases
(Wang et al., 2008)

19. 19
• Over 2,500 botanic gardens
maintaining samples of some 80,000
plant species (FAO, 2010)
• Research on seeds conservation and
new biotechnologies e.g. Kew
Gardens
• Conservation and restoration activities
• Education activities
• BGCI - Global Strategy on Plant
Conservation through Global
Partnership on Plant Conservation
Botanic gardens

20. State of in situ
conservation
• Increased recognition of value of crop wild
relatives
• Global strategy on crop wild relatives
• FAO, UoB, Bioversity - Global Initiative on in
situ conservation and on farm management
• New priority sites for conserving crop wild
relatives in situ have been identified
• 30% more Protected Areas but not
necessarily secure
• Little progress outside protected areas.
ImkeThormann,Bioversity

21. • Farmers tolerate the presence of CWR species on farm
• Beneficial effects of CWR in providing useful
traits/genes
Research is needed
• Increased collection and ex situ conservation of CWR?
• Prioritization of areas for in situ conservation CWR for
genetic reserves
• What adaptive traits are present within in situ
populations?
• To what extent are gene flow and introgression
happening from CWR?
Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) a solution for adaptation
to climate change: Geneflow

22. On farm management
• Greater understanding of
amount and distribution of
genetic diversity;
• Increase of tools and techniques
for assessing PGRFA on farm;
• Value of local seed systems;
• More participatory on farm
projects;
• Legal mechanisms to enable
farmers to market their local
varieties
Credit:BioversityInternational/R.Vodouh

23. 23
On farm conservation
• Farmers who continue to grow and maintain
traditional varieties and may be regarded as
guardians of diversity
• This retention is reinforced and maintained by
the traditional networks of exchange of seeds
• Locally adapted crop varieties require less
pesticides and fertilizers
• Reduced costs
• Improved human and ecosystem health
• Reduced impact on associated diversity
(pollinators, soil microorganisms)

24. Global concern about the loss of genetic diversity
(both ex situ collections and in situ populations)
• International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food
and Agriculture
“Alarmed by the continuing erosion of these resources” [i.e. PGRFA]
• Global Plan of Action on Conservation and Sustainable
Use of Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture
“Genetic erosion is reported to continue many regions of the world
and the genetic vulnerability of crops has further increased”.
• Strategic Plan for Biodiversity 2011-2020
Aichi Target 13: By 2020, the genetic diversity of cultivated plants and
farmed and domesticated animals and of wild relatives, including other
socio-economically as well as culturally valuable species, is
maintained, and strategies have been developed and implemented for
minimizing genetic erosion and safeguarding their genetic diversity.

25. • It is clear that genetic
erosion is of concern but
evidence is still lacking about
the rate of loss
• There is no global,
harmonized observation
system for delivering regular,
timely data on agricultural
biodiversity change
• Monitoring changes in genetic
diversity and analyzing
causes of change is still
needed

26. 26
Current measurements
and indicators (crops)
• Monitoring progress of the implementation of second
Global Plan of Action. (set of 66 indicators)
• Global indicators: Significant traditional variety diversity in
terms of richness and eveness (Jarvis et al., 2009, PNAS)
• Set of 12 priority indicators on Agrobiodiversity
conservation services was identified; (Nguyen and
Drucker, 2013)
• HT Integrated Indicator including Varietal richness, Spatial
evenness; Effect of between-variety genetic diversity;
Within- variety genetic diversity (Bonneuil et al., 2012)
• Biodiversity Partnership Indicator: Enrichment Index of ex
situ crop collections as an indicator on the status and trend
of crop genetic diversity

27. 27
Red list for cultivated plants
• Threat analysis of crop varieties/species based
on level of use by local people
• Drops in their use below a certain threshold,
beyond which the variety/species would no
longer provide the expected benefit to the
community as a whole
• the maintenance of associated knowledge and
traditions associated to it
This will allow us to assess current trends and possible decline of its cultivation over
time and ensure that local crop diversity is conserved and used in most sustainable
way
(Padulosi and Dulloo, 2009)

28. Way Forward

29. Key Challenges
to address
• Capacity – Human Resources
(taxonomy, in situ conservation and
on farm conservation, pre-breeding
ABS etc.)
• Cooperation and coordination
between different institution, esp.
environment and agriculture sectors
• National Monitoring mechanism
needed
• Incentive mechanism and valuation
of PGRFA
• Gender sensitive analysis tools and
indicators- more involvement of
rural women
Credit:BioverstyInternationalB.Vinceti

30. National Strategic
Action Plan on
Genetic Resources
• Road map for strengthening
conservation and use of
PGRFA
• Focus on priority species and
crops
• Systematic analysis of relevant
information
• Participative approach

31. • Agricultural Biodiversity is important for nourishing people and sustaining the planet
• Conservation technologies have evolved; while ex situ conservation technologies are
well developed, there is much to be done to safeguard the diversity in situ and on farm
• Despite progress made, there are still global concerns of genetic erosion and loss of
biodiversity
– Strengthening capacity
– Improving networks - collaboration between sectors
– Global Information system for agrobiodiversity
– Participatory monitoring of biodiversity
– Ensuring a good complementarity between ex situ, in situ and on farm conservation
– Providing incentive mechanisms
– Creating a good policy enabling environment
Conclusion

32. Thank you
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