Requirements for safe longterm conservation and easy access of genetic resources in AEGIS

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Requirements for safe long-term conservation and
easy access of genetic resources in AEGIS

• Marco van Veller Noortje Bas

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Individual and centralised collections
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Centralised collections of genetic resources

• Desired for efficiency and economical reasons

• Problems with realisation of an integrated system

• Ensuring long term conservation and easy access
  of genetic resources - our point of view
• requirements for Continuity
• requirements for Quality

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Continuity

• Legal aspects

• Technical aspects

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Legal aspects

• governmental task
• guaranty for a fixed (preferably large) number of
  years
• arrangements for on time communication when
  facilities are ended
• how to deal with safety duplicates when
  facilities are ended?
• availability of safety duplicates when source is
  lost
• safety duplicates in different countries

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Safety duplicates
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Safety duplicates
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Technical aspects

• All collections should be safety duplicated

• Safety duplicates plus documentation

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Information management

• Individual documentation system

• Centralised documentation system

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Quality

• Control and improvement
• Quality Management System

• Scientific and technical standards
• Normalisation

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Control and improvement
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Quality Management System

• Record what you do
• describe the business processes

• Do as recorded
• follow the procedures

• Let someone check and make improvements
• auditing process
• responses to complaints

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Technical standards

• Definitions of standards that have to be met
• generic standards not crop specific
• specific standards crop specific
• support by all members of integrated system
• Normalisation product of integrated system

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Normalisation

• Standards for
• regeneration
• long term storage and availability
• distribution
• information management
• all other elements of Quality Management System

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Regeneration - CGN protocol

• Maintaining genetic integrity
• Maintaining identity
• Ensuring seed quality

• Use of logbook
• sowing-, planting-, harvest lists
• irregularities decision on refusal of
  regenerated
• seed sample

• Separate detailed instructions per (sub)crop

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Regeneration - CGN protocol (B. oleracea)
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Regeneration - CGN protocol (B. oleracea)

• Maintaining genetic integrity
• Isolation cages, prevention of pollen
  contamination
• population size (80 plants, minimum 25)
• methods to ensure (even) pollination
• insect species, time application when 50 plants
  flowering
• harvest no selection, avoiding seed contamination

• Separate seed cleaning protocol

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Regeneration - CGN protocol (B. oleracea)

• Maintaining identity
• use of same (field) numbers from sowing through
  cleaning
• labelling in all steps
• field and accession numbers
• in logbook

• seed cleaning protocol

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Regeneration - CGN protocol (B. oleracea)

• Maintaining seed quality

• regular checking for pests and diseases during
• regeneration decisions and notes on control

• pre-drying
• max. time between harvest and seed cleaning (9
  months)

• protocol seed cleaning
• control of purity seed samples, no weeds and
  pests
• storage in drying room until uptake (RH15, 15
  C)

• determination of germination rate

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Protocol determination of germination rate

• According to ISTA rules
• Exceptions depending on species and
  cultivated/wild
• tests on 200 /100 seeds
• methods for breaking through dormancy, longer
  testing period, hard seededness
• monitoring normal and abnormal seedlings
• swollen, dead and rest
  seeds
• hard seededness

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Long term storage and availability

• Guidelines for
• inclusion in
• collection and
• safeguarding

quality quantity identity

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Long term storage and availability - quality

• Minimum requirements facilities
• Drying room (absolute humidity 3 - 7 )
• Long term storage (- 20 C) for conservation
• Medium term storage ( 4 C) for distribution
• Regular checking technical equipment/climate
  control
• Containers and seals ensuring low humidity
• Minimum germination rate
• different for wild/cultivated species (60/80)
• exceptions e.g. in case of known dormancy

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Long term storage and availability - quality

• Regular monitoring of germination rate
• Maximum time lapse between different monitorings
• Depending on crop and initial germination
• e.g. 10, 20 - 30 years
• If germination between monitorings drops more
  than 15 or below threshold
• action regeneration base sample

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Long term storage and availability - quantity

• Minimum seed quantity depending on
• self-/cross pollinating crops
• wild/cultivated species
• costs of regeneration

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Long term storage and availability - quantity

• Minimum quantity sufficient for

• Conservation
• future multiplication (2x)
• monitoring germination rate (4x)
• safety duplicate (amount needed for
  multiplication)

• Availability
• distribution (minimal 6 samples)

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Long term storage and availability - quantity

• Regular (yearly) monitoring
• threshold quantity
• If below threshold quantity
• action regeneration

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Long term storage and availability - identity

• Identity
• Labels on containers long term quality
• Location of storage documentation system
• Identification system in storage rooms
• samples included in collection
• samples not (yet) included in collection

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Distribution

• Requests centralised seed manager
• Decision curator
• bonafide user
• contact if necessary
• MTA procedure
• Sanitary certificate, import permit, plant
  passport?
• Sending within two weeks after receiving MTA

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Implementation of standards

• List(s) with different aspects concerning
• quality, quantity, identity
• Per collection curators agree on minimum
  standards
• Each curator produces protocols on regeneration,
  long term storage and availability
• these differ between genebanks (but minimum
  standards)
• protocols need to be public
• a system of control

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Implementation of requirements
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Individual and centralised collections
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Centralised documentation system

• Database management system
• technical requirements for data exchange
• training for application
• centralised access for users
• database administration and maintenance
• safety back ups
• rotation scheme frequency and preservation
• storage on different location
• recovery strategy

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Centralised documentation system

• Information
• what information should be included?
• standardisation of data to be included
• e.g. multi-crop passport descriptors (MCPD)
• redundancy with individual documentation systems
• synchronisation with individual documentation
  systems

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Integrated network of quality collections