Managing Global Genetic Resources Agricultural Crop Issues and Policies (1993) / Chapter Skim
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9. The Conservation of Genetic Stock Collections
9. The Conservation of Genetic Stock Collections
Pages 219-238
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From page 219... ...
Finally, the special problems that genetic stock collections pose in terms of long-term conservation and the steps that need to be taken to ensure their long-term security are examined. Genetic stock collections of other classes of organisms that have no direct economic benefit but that are used solely for such purposes as research and teaching (for example, the mouse Mus comes tica, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, the coliform bacterium Escherichia colt, and the pink bread mold Neurospora crassa)
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From page 220... ...
Furthermore, the importance and value of genetic stock collections will find increasing use in the identification, location, and isolation of specific genes and their manipulation and transfer into economically important plants and animals for breeding programs using molecular genetics tools. Consequently, the perception that genetic stock collections are primarily a research tool of no direct economic benefit is likely to change quickly as the impact of the new biotechnologies permeate commercial agriculture.
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From page 221... ...
Furthermore, genetic stock collections are generally regarded as the responsibility of individual research groups that have developed and maintained them on a purely ad hoc basis. Only when the demand for access to genetic stocks and the size of the collections exceed the capacity of the individual researchers have there been moves to develop integrated national or international collections.
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From page 222... ...
Significant genetic stock collections have not developed for fish or other aquatic animals. Modest genetic stock collections have developed for several species, such as mosquitoes, Mediterranean fruit fly, sirex wasp, and the sheep blowfly, and especially in the case of agricultural pests for which attempts have been made to reduce the population size of the pest below the economic threshold level by using lethal genes or chromosomes or by releasing irradiated males.
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From page 223... ...
Since genetic stocks are principally developed and maintained by research scientists, most are held in universities or research institutes. This is in contrast to germplasm collections for crop plants, which are usually maintained by national governments because of their strategic importance to national economics.
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From page 224... ...
The use of electrophoretically detectable variants at genetic loci governing the production of specific proteins has increased dramatically over the past two decades in many spheres of genetic research. Consequently, genetic stocks carrying well characterized variants have become an increasingly important component of genetic stock collections.
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From page 225... ...
Wild relatives of crop plants that are difficult to grow or manage within the framework of a normal cultivar collection or germplasm bank may be more readily maintained in genetic stock collections. These stocks need special management because seeds scatter at maturity.
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From page 226... ...
Moreover, neither genetic stocks nor advanced breeders' lines are commonly held in most germplasm collections. Their status differs substantially from those of released cultivars or wild and weedy relatives, in that for the germplasm of wild or weedy relatives there is either no single identifiable originator or the originator, in seeking public release, has voluntarily forfeited exclusive control, at least for further breeding and scientific research purposes.
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From page 227... ...
MAINTAINING GENETIC STOCK COLLECTIONS OF AGRICULTURAL CROPS The conservation of genetic stock collections requires technical and scientific inputs and physical resources broadly similar to those required for maintaining germplasm collections or agricultural crops. In the case of seed crops, for example, these broad requirements include the following: · Suitable low-temperature, low-humidity facilities; · Access to back-up storage facilities; · Adequate seed-handling facilities for drying, cleaning, packaging, and viability testing of seed samples; and · Computerized information storage and retrieval systems.
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From page 228... ...
In view of the importance of genetic stock collections in underpinning genetic and biotechnological research and the investment that has gone into the development of such collections, a number of actions have been taken to put at least some of them on a firmer long-term footing. In the United States, the Genetics Society of America established the Committee for the Maintenance of Genetic Stocks (CMOS)
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From page 229... ...
Two examples follow to illustrate the types of problems confronted by genetic stock collections. EXAMPLES OF GENETIC STOCK COLLECTIONS Management of genetic stocks collections presents a variety of technical, managerial, and financial challenges.
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From page 230... ...
For most of its existence, TGSC was supported largely by its host institution, the University of California, as part of its overall research and teaching program. Additional support came from grants from the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation for research on the acquisition and maintenance of relevant genetic stocks.
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From page 231... ...
With the growth of molecular genetics and its potential impact on plant improvement, demand for genetic stocks will probably increase. Accessioning of Stocks It is the practice of TGSC to maintain all stocks of bona fide aneuploids and mutants, that is, those for which convincing data have been published.
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From page 232... ...
The report of the task force has been published (Genetic Resources Conservation Program, 1988~. Barley Genetic Stock Collections Barley geneticists and breeders have established an internationally coordinated network of centers for the maintenance of barley
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From page 233... ...
Thus, substantial genetic stock collections were established in different research institutes throughout the world. As the collections grew in size, efforts were made to increase cooperation among them to minimize duplication of effort and to ensure that those with a special interest and expertise in any given group of genetic stocks were closely involved in their maintenance.
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From page 234... ...
These studies began in the 1920s and emphasized simple morphologic marker genes of value in early linkage studies. Over the years the collection was enriched by the addition of a wide range of naturally and artificially generated variants, linkage testers, and more recently, of cytogenetic stocks from the local program and others in the United States and overseas.
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From page 235... ...
The list of these stocks is published in most of the issues of Barley Genetics Newsletter and Genetic Maps (National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland)
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From page 236... ...
It has been able to arrange alternative funding from the USDA and private industry, respectively, so prospects for the immediate future are promising. TOWARD A MORE SECURE FUTURE Genetic stock collections are an important complement to genetic resources collections.
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From page 237... ...
With better long-term funding, improved data management facilities, and greater coordination with germplasm banks, genetic resources centers would provide genetic stock collections with the stability and security they need to meet the challenge of the rapid advances in molecular genetics likely to occur into the twenty-first century. Major collections of genetic stocks should be overseen by an advisory board of qualified experts in genetics, breeding, and seed storage.
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From page 238... ...
Data collection, management, and distribution also remain problem areas for genetic stock collections. The major genetic stock centers generally produce periodic newsletters, one of the functions of which is to provide users with up-to-date information on the status of the collections.
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