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Cereal landraces genetic resources in worldwide GeneBanks. A review
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Since the dawn of agriculture, cereal landraces
have been the staples for food production worldwide, but
their use dramatically declined in the 2nd half of the last
century, replaced by modern cultivars. In most parts of the
world, landraces are one of the most threatened components
of agrobiodiversity, facing the risk of genetic erosion and
extinction. Since landraces have a tremendous potential in
the development of new cultivars adapted to changing environmental
conditions, GeneBanks holding their genetic
resources potentially play an important role in supporting sustainable agriculture. This work reviews the current
knowledge on cereal landraces maintained in GeneBanks
and highlights the strengths and weaknesses of existing
information about their taxonomy, origin, structure, threats,
sampling methodologies and conservation and GeneBanks’
documentation and management. An overview of major
collections of cereal landraces is presented, using the information
available in global metadatabase systems. This review
on winter cereal landrace conservation focuses on: (1)
traditional role of GeneBanks is evolving beyond their original
purpose to conserve plant materials for breeding programmes.
Today’s GeneBank users are interested in
landraces’ history, agro-ecology and traditional knowledge
associated with their use, in addition to germplasm traits. (2)
GeneBanks therefore need to actively share their germplasm
collections’ information using different channels, to promote
unlimited and effective use of these materials for the
further development of sustainable agriculture. (3) Access to
information on the 7.4 million accessions conserved in
GeneBanks worldwide, of which cereal accessions account
for nearly 45 %, particularly information on cereal landraces
(24 % of wheat, 23 % of barley, 14 % of oats and 29 % of
rye accessions), is often not easily available to potential
users, mainly due to the lack of consistent or compatible
documentation systems, their structure and registration. (4)
Enhancing the sustainable use of landraces maintained in
germplasm collections through the effective application of
recent advances in landrace knowledge (origin, structure
and traits) and documentation using the internet tools and
data providing networks, including the use of molecular and
biotechnological tools for the material screening and detection
of agronomic traits. (5) Cereal landraces cannot be
exclusively conserved as seed samples maintained under
ex situ conditions in GeneBanks. The enormous contribution
of farmers in maintaining the crop and landraces diversity is recognised. Sharing of benefits and raising
awareness of the value of cereal landraces are the most
effective ways to promote their conservation and to ensure
their continued availability and sustainable use. (6)
Evaluation of costs and economic benefits attributed to
sustainable use of cereal landraces conserved in the
GeneBanks requires comprehensive studies conducted on a
case-by-case basis, that take into consideration species/crop
resources, conservation conditions and quality and
GeneBank location and functions.
Description
Keywords
GeneBanks Cereal landraces Wheat Rye Barley Oats Origin Conservation Documentation systems Germplasm Madeira Island (Portugal) . Faculdade de Ciências da Vida
Citation
Carvalho, M. A. P., Bebeli, P. J., Bettencourt, E., Costa, G., Dias, S., Santos, T. M., & Slaski, J. J. (2013). Cereal landraces genetic resources in worldwide GeneBanks. A review. Agronomy for sustainable development, 33(1), 177-203. DOI 10.1007/s13593-012-0090-0
Publisher
Springer Verlag