Rational Approach to Identifying and Deploying Novel Trait Expression From Ex Situ Genebank Collections.

Ex situ plant germplasm collections are recognized as an important source of genetic variation in addressing the challenges that face current plant improvement/breeding programs. Many of the new alleles incorporated into crop varieties during the past century were found through the evaluation of germplasm by basic or applied researchers. With an estimated 7.5 million ex situ accessions held in some 1,700 genebank collections worldwide (FAO, 2010), the selection of the specific germplasm to evaluate is a critical factor in the efficiency and success in identifying the required variation for a given trait at any specific point in time. Evaluating 500 accessions and finding 75% of the interesting variation that could have be found by evaluating 5,000 accessions would significantly improve both the efficiency and effectiveness of the plant improvement process. The Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) was conceived and developed as an approach by which such efficiencies can be gained. The FIGS approach is based on gaining a better understanding of the relationship between germplasm and the environment in which it evolved; the relationship between environmental parameters and the expression of variability for specific traits. FIGS has successfully developed targeted subsets of accessions, especially for a number of biotic traits such as pest and disease resistance in cereals. Examples of methods used to develop FIGS subsets, both in the past and more recently, will be discussed along with current plans for further enhancement of the approach. The necessity of having access to information about germplasm (phenotypic, genotypic and environmental) will also be addressed together with examples of how such information might be obtained.