As the world population is projected to reach over 9 billion by 2050, contemporary agriculture is facing a dual challenge stemming from the demand for increased productivity, energy content, and nutritional value of staple foods, and the necessity to adapt to the volatility of weather conditions that are exacerbated by climate disruptions. To strengthen resilience in agriculture, the safeguarding and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity are becoming an utmost priority. Plant genetic resources constitute a fundamental component of agrobiodiversity and since the infancy of agriculture, they have formed the primary source of agricultural production systems, owing to the genetic diversity they contain. Furthermore, they are essential for the maintenance of numerous ecological systems (such as ensuring food sources and habitats for different types of species or linked to the traditional agricultural practices and specific cultural needs of local communities) thus contributing in a multifaceted way to social welfare.
In this regard, genebanks play an imperative role in the ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources, maintaining a vast amount of genetic diversity represented in a multitude of crops and their wild relatives. Conserving such diverse germplasm remains a challenging endeavor and many critical issues on germplasm conservation (e.g., gaps in the collections, insufficient viability monitoring, germplasm duplications, etc.) require urgent research efforts towards a more efficient and effective management of plant genetic resources. Concurrently, major aspects of the genetic diversity maintained in genebanks remain largely untapped. The genetic wealth that is captured in these resources has the potential to provide adaptive traits to counter biotic and abiotic adversities and to increase yield and nutritional quality in crops. It is anticipated that automation and state-of-the-art technologies, such as genomics and phenomics, along with recent advances in statistics and modeling will lead to greater insights into key genebank activities and will further accentuate the importance of the collections. Furthermore, innovative strategies including genebank networks and linkage between ex situ and in situ/on-farm conservation will strengthen the use of the germplasm and allow for sustainable and diverse agro-food systems.
New complementary approaches are needed that capitalize on recent advances in research and technology and that are tailored to the requirements of potential agrobiodiversity stakeholders. Hence, original articles on novel research as well as review articles that can potentially have a sound impact on conservation management of plant genetic resources (ex situ and in situ) under the perspective of germplasm utilization are welcomed in this collection. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Automations in genebanks to facilitate the management of collections.
• Adding novel diversity and filling geographical gaps in genebank collections.
• Strategies for efficient mining of plant genetic resources for adaptive traits and approaches to mainstream genebanks’ accessions into crop improvement processes (pre-breeding).
• Employment of molecular approaches and/or -multi-omic technologies (high-throughput genotyping, phenotyping) for efficient management and unraveling of novel diversity in genebank collections.
• Modeling demographic parameters for maintaining the genetic integrity of germplasm accessions during the conservation and regeneration processes.
• In situ conservation management plans and potential for incorporating crop wild relatives and/or underutilized species into complementary conservation strategies.
• Linking ex situ conservation with on-farm management for exploitation, enhancement and promotion of plant genetic resources (community seed banks, farmers’ networks, etc.).
As the world population is projected to reach over 9 billion by 2050, contemporary agriculture is facing a dual challenge stemming from the demand for increased productivity, energy content, and nutritional value of staple foods, and the necessity to adapt to the volatility of weather conditions that are exacerbated by climate disruptions. To strengthen resilience in agriculture, the safeguarding and sustainable use of agrobiodiversity are becoming an utmost priority. Plant genetic resources constitute a fundamental component of agrobiodiversity and since the infancy of agriculture, they have formed the primary source of agricultural production systems, owing to the genetic diversity they contain. Furthermore, they are essential for the maintenance of numerous ecological systems (such as ensuring food sources and habitats for different types of species or linked to the traditional agricultural practices and specific cultural needs of local communities) thus contributing in a multifaceted way to social welfare.
In this regard, genebanks play an imperative role in the ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources, maintaining a vast amount of genetic diversity represented in a multitude of crops and their wild relatives. Conserving such diverse germplasm remains a challenging endeavor and many critical issues on germplasm conservation (e.g., gaps in the collections, insufficient viability monitoring, germplasm duplications, etc.) require urgent research efforts towards a more efficient and effective management of plant genetic resources. Concurrently, major aspects of the genetic diversity maintained in genebanks remain largely untapped. The genetic wealth that is captured in these resources has the potential to provide adaptive traits to counter biotic and abiotic adversities and to increase yield and nutritional quality in crops. It is anticipated that automation and state-of-the-art technologies, such as genomics and phenomics, along with recent advances in statistics and modeling will lead to greater insights into key genebank activities and will further accentuate the importance of the collections. Furthermore, innovative strategies including genebank networks and linkage between ex situ and in situ/on-farm conservation will strengthen the use of the germplasm and allow for sustainable and diverse agro-food systems.
New complementary approaches are needed that capitalize on recent advances in research and technology and that are tailored to the requirements of potential agrobiodiversity stakeholders. Hence, original articles on novel research as well as review articles that can potentially have a sound impact on conservation management of plant genetic resources (ex situ and in situ) under the perspective of germplasm utilization are welcomed in this collection. Potential topics include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Automations in genebanks to facilitate the management of collections.
• Adding novel diversity and filling geographical gaps in genebank collections.
• Strategies for efficient mining of plant genetic resources for adaptive traits and approaches to mainstream genebanks’ accessions into crop improvement processes (pre-breeding).
• Employment of molecular approaches and/or -multi-omic technologies (high-throughput genotyping, phenotyping) for efficient management and unraveling of novel diversity in genebank collections.
• Modeling demographic parameters for maintaining the genetic integrity of germplasm accessions during the conservation and regeneration processes.
• In situ conservation management plans and potential for incorporating crop wild relatives and/or underutilized species into complementary conservation strategies.
• Linking ex situ conservation with on-farm management for exploitation, enhancement and promotion of plant genetic resources (community seed banks, farmers’ networks, etc.).