Plant genetic resources management: collection, characterization, conservation and utilization

Genetic resources provide basic material for selection and improvement through breeding to ensure food security needs of the world’s rapidly rising population. Conservation and utilization of plant genetic resources are important components of ex-situ collections. Management of ex-situ collections requires creative and adaptive decisions tailored to operating conditions that are specific and continuously changing. The establishment of large, crop-genepool-specific collections at ICRISAT (International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics) genebank, Patancheru, India was based on donations from existing collections and on targeted collection efforts. Majority of the conserved accessions are of orthodox seed producing nature. The conserved germplasm has been characterized for important morphoagronomic characters and germplasm seed samples distributed to bonafide researchers for utilization in crop improvement programs all over the world. Exiguous use of germplasm has been observed in breeding programs mainly due to lack of information on economic traits. Core collections (10% of entire collection) and mini-core collections (10% of the core or 1% of entire collection) have been developed to enhance the use of germplasm in breeding programs. Core and mini-core collections have been used to identify genetically diverse trait-specific germplasm with resistance to abiotic and biotic stresses and for agronomic traits. These will be used in breeding programs to develop broad-based cultivars. This article describes the collections, genebank operations and practices from conservation to utilization perspectives.