Genebank of the agronomy department of the Biotehncal faculty in Ljubljana

Abstract

Caring for nature conservation in the strict sense of genetic resources cannot be left to individuals or individual institutions, this issue must be tackled at regional, national and international levels. The organization IBPGR (now Bioversity International), an independent institution founded for this purpose in 1974, is associated with the FAO and similar organizations worldwide and is responsible for organizing conservation of the world's genetic resources. Under its auspices, descriptors for individual species have been produced by which genetic material is described and evaluated. This is one of the reasons why individual collections in Slovenia responsible for storing agricultural plants, merged in 1996 and became a body of national importance called the Slovenian Plant Genebank. It includes also the genebank of agricultural plants of the Department of Agronomy of the Biotechnical Faculty, consisting of four genebanks containing primarily samples of domestic buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum and Fagopyrum tataricum), maize (populations and lines grown from them), fruit plants (apple, pear and walnut trees) and grasses and legumes (genuses Lolium, Dactylis and Trifolium). Despite preserving a variety of plant species, the genebank has some common organizational characteristics. The method and conditions of storage, irrespective of plant species are similar. Seed samples are thus stored ex situ – outside of the natural environment in a refrigerator. Fruit species are stored ex situ in the form of plantations. Genebank work focuses on the proper storage of samples, collection of samples, regeneration and multiplication of seeds, maintaining and planting new crops of fruit plants. The main tasks also include the collection of basic (passport) data on samples, characterization and evaluation of data collected by international descriptors, cooperation among genebanks and the availability of collections and samples. Grounds for collecting samples and the creation of the genebank and activities have some common characteristics, mainly preserving genetic material from decay. Each collection has specificities by which it is also recognizable.