Development of a consolidated descriptor list to support <i>in situ</i> conservation of plant genetic resources

Abstract There are increasing calls for greater availability of plant genetic resources (PGR) for use in plant breeding to help counter the adverse impacts of a changing climate and threats from pests and diseases, particularly in a context of reduced agricultural inputs, and the needs of the increasing human population. Managing and promoting ex situ and in situ conservation of PGR requires an effective data and informatics foundation. However, in situ data management is particularly undeveloped, especially when compared to ex situ documentation. The work presented here is a consolidated descriptor list to support in situ conservation of PGR. The consolidated PGR descriptor list is based on numerous partial lists collated from historic PGR activities, biodiversity conservation and protected area networking activities. New descriptors for in situ conservation activities were developed where gaps were identified. The draft consolidated PGR descriptor list was reviewed and revised through a process of consultation with experts in PGR documentation and in situ conservation. In total, 171 descriptors were identified, of which seven are defined as mandatory, 47 are defined as core descriptors and 29 are newly developed descriptors for in situ conservation of PGR. The descriptors cover all aspects of in situ conservation, from gathering passport data (for which there are already well-established descriptors), to monitoring and managing crop wild relative and landrace populations. Recommendations are made for the most effective use and future development of descriptors and how they could be used to further develop and support in situ PGR conservation implementation.

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Publication Details

Journal
Plant Genetic Resources
Published
2026-03-09
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1017/s1479262126100562
Primary Topic
Genetic and Environmental Crop Studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Development of a consolidated descriptor list to support in situ conservation of plant genetic resources

Laurène Gay, T.J.L. van Hintum, Magalie Delalande, Karine Sarikyan et al.
Plant Genetic Resources
Genetic and Environmental Crop Studies
article

Development of a consolidated descriptor list to support in situ conservation of plant genetic resources

Laurène Gay, T.J.L. van Hintum, Magalie Delalande, Karine Sarikyan, Filippo Guzzon, Gordana Đurić, Agnese Gailîte, Goran Zdunić, Jade Phillips, Anna Palmé, Lorenzo Raggi, Anna Forycka, Imke Thormann, Louis Fresta, Joana Magos Brehm, Stephan Weise, Nigel Maxted, Juozas Lambokas, Jaime Prohens, Alvina Avagyan, Anne-Francoise Adam-Blondon, José M. Iriondo, Dan Sandru
article en

Abstract

Abstract There are increasing calls for greater availability of plant genetic resources (PGR) for use in plant breeding to help counter the adverse impacts of a changing climate and threats from pests and diseases, particularly in a context of reduced agricultural inputs, and the needs of the increasing human population. Managing and promoting ex situ and in situ conservation of PGR requires an effective data and informatics foundation. However, in situ data management is particularly undeveloped, especially when compared to ex situ documentation. The work presented here is a consolidated descriptor list to support in situ conservation of PGR. The consolidated PGR descriptor list is based on numerous partial lists collated from historic PGR activities, biodiversity conservation and protected area networking activities. New descriptors for in situ conservation activities were developed where gaps were identified. The draft consolidated PGR descriptor list was reviewed and revised through a process of consultation with experts in PGR documentation and in situ conservation. In total, 171 descriptors were identified, of which seven are defined as mandatory, 47 are defined as core descriptors and 29 are newly developed descriptors for in situ conservation of PGR. The descriptors cover all aspects of in situ conservation, from gathering passport data (for which there are already well-established descriptors), to monitoring and managing crop wild relative and landrace populations. Recommendations are made for the most effective use and future development of descriptors and how they could be used to further develop and support in situ PGR conservation implementation.

Plant Genetic Resources
Bank of Italy (IT), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (FR), Vilnius University (LT), Universidad Rey Juan Carlos (ES), Université Paris-Saclay (FR), Institut National de Recherche pour l'Agriculture, l'Alimentation et l'Environnement (FR), Institut des Sciences des Plantes de Paris Saclay (FR), Istituto di Biologia e Biotecnologia Agraria (IT), State Innovation Exchange (US), Institute of Natural Fibres and Medicinal Plants (PL), Bioversity International (CO), Genetic Resources Center (JP), Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (CH), State Forest Research Institute (IN), International Center for Tropical Agriculture (KE), Leibniz-Institut für Pflanzengenetik und Kulturpflanzenforschung (IPK) (DE), Nature Research Centre (LT), Institut Agro Montpelier (FR), Latvian State Forest Research Institute "Silava" (LV), Federal Scientific Center for Vegetable Growing (RU), Institute for Adriatic Crops and Karst Reclamation (HR), Millennium Engineering and Integration (United States) (US), Universitat Politècnica de València (ES), University of Birmingham (GB), Wageningen University & Research (NL)
HORIZON EUROPE Framework Programme
Openalex Percentile: Top 31%
Genetic and Environmental Crop Studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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