Vegetable genetic diversity maintained by the AVRDC genebank - A cornerstone for sustainable production of nutritious food

Crop genetic diversity, created through natural and human selection over millennia and complemented by the diversity present in wild relatives of crop plants, provides the raw material that can be employed by scientists to improve crop productivity and diversify production systems. But genetic variation, once considered unlimited, is fast eroding as modern breeding lines replace traditional cultivars over large areas, and natural habitats are destroyed through human intervention. This is especially the case for vegetables; high-yielding hybrid cultivars dominate the seed market and the value chain. AVRDC The World Vegetable Center maintains a vast diversity of vegetable genetic resources comprising more than 60,000 accessions of 170 genera and 437 species from 156 countries. The AVRDC genebank is one of the world’s largest international public genebanks. Since its establishment in 1971, AVRDC has distributed close to 590,000 seed samples of its vegetable germplasm collection to researchers and breeders in 200 countries. Each year the Center’s Genetic Resources and Seed Unit distributes seed samples of 6,000 to 7,000 accessions and breeding lines to the public and private sector as well as to AVRDC scientists for crop improvement programs and related research worldwide, thereby contributing to global food and nutrition security. More than 466 improved vegetable cultivars and varieties developed from the germplasm held by AVRDC have been released to farmers around the world, helping them to produce good harvests and generate income despite pest and disease pressure or abiotic stress. One interesting example is tomato, with 169 cultivars based on AVRDC-developed open-pollinated, heat-tolerant and multiple disease- resistant germplasm released in 40 countries worldwide since 1978. About 75% of seed companies in Asia use AVRDC-developed cultivars as parent lines in their breeding programs. This success was only possible thanks to the genetic building blocks conserved in AVRDC’s diverse tomato collection of more than 8000 accessions, including 735 wild species, 595 genetic stocks and more than 6000 accessions of mostly traditional cultivars and landraces.

摘要: 農作物基因多樣性是經過數千年的天擇與人擇的結果加上作物植株野生近緣種的多樣性做為補充提供了可供科學家改善作物生產力及讓生產系統多樣化的原始材料。不過當現代育種品系大範圍地取代傳統品種且自然產地因人類介入而遭到破壞使得曾被視為毫無極限的基因變異隨之快速消蝕尤其在蔬菜上特別明顯高產量的雜交品種在種子市場及價值鏈中佔有重要的地位。亞蔬世界蔬菜中心保存龐大地蔬菜基因多樣性的資源共有來自156國的170個屬、437個種、超過60,000個選系。亞蔬中心基因庫是世界上最大的國際公開性基因庫之一自1971年成立後亞蔬中心已分享近590,000個種子樣本給200個國家的研究人員及育種人員。每年該中心的基因資源及種子單位會分享6,000至7,000個選系與培育品系的種子樣本給予公共及私營機構以及該中心的科學家以供全球作物改善計畫及相關研究之用進而幫助全球食品及營養安全。目前已超過466個改良的蔬菜品種及自亞蔬中心種原發展出的變異種釋予全球農民幫助他們在蟲害、病害或非生物逆境的壓力下有良好的收成與收入。番茄就是一個值得注意的例子自1978年起亞蔬中心以自然授粉方式開發出169個耐熱及多病害抗性品種並將其種原釋出予全球40個國家。在亞洲約75 %的種子公司使用亞蔬中心所開發的品種作為他們育種計畫的親代品系。這項成就歸因於亞蔬中心保存著多樣性的番茄種原收集、超過8000個選系的基因建構基礎其中包括735個野生種、595個遺傳種源以及超過6000個大部分由傳統品種及地方品種構成的選系。