ARS | Publication request: Diversity and the Role of Genebanks in the Age of Genomics

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: June 25, 2009
Publication Date: August 29, 2009
Citation: Richards, C.M., Volk, G.M. 2009. Diversity and the Role of Genebanks in the Age of Genomics. Meeting Abstract. Molecular Markers in Horticulture, ISHS, Covalis OR July 30-August 1, 2009. Abstract OP36 pg.39

Technical Abstract: The use of genetic resources for crop improvement has undergone a fundamental shift. For the last few decade molecular geneticists have begun to understand the genetic underpinning of complex traits that are critical for agriculture. There has been a universal recognition that continued progress is dependent on making use of the natural variation contained within the world’s genebanks. Modern high-throughput methodologies applied to both genomes and transcriptomes are opening a new era, distinguishing genome-wide from gene-specific patterns and giving us unprecedented insight into the causes of natural variation, adaptation and evolutionary change. In order to deliver on the potential this variation promises, genebanks will need to manage their collections in ways that promote their utilization, that open up access to no only the living materials but to vast amounts of data that describe them. This talk will focus on the potential and limits of core and reference sets in wild germplasm collections and discuss the kinds of analytical approaches and capacities needed to efficiently integrate germplasm curation with efforts to discover and utilize natural variation for crop improvement