Source: AgBiotech Bulletin Volume 2 Issue 2
Published by Ag-West Bio Inc.

Plant Gene Resources of Canada (PGRC), one of the most important genetic material collections in the world, will be bolstered this summer with the addition of four new scientists and four technical assistants to aid plant and animal genetic research.

One research scientist will focus on native Canadian plants and barley, and three new scientists will help launch the Animal Genetic Resources Program (AGRP) recently awarded to the University.

The Animal Genetic Resources Program will be co-located at the PGRC and the University of Saskatchewan’s Colleges of Agriculture and Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM). One scientist and technician will work from the College of Agriculture, while the remaining two scientists and technicians will work out of WCVM.

“The College of Agriculture looks forward to working on this exciting collaborative opportunity to preserve the genetic diversity in animals,” said Dr. Sheila Schmutz, Acting Associate Dean of Research at the College of Agriculture and one of the members of the AGRP core committee along with Dr. Ken Richards, Research Manager at PGRC and Dr. Reuben Mapletoft, Herd Medicine & Theriogenology at the WCVM.

“As of now, we are in the process of selecting our scientists who we expect to be in place by early autumn of this year,” said Ken Richards. In addition to the technicians, a gamete/embryo physiologist, cryobiologist and animal genetic diversity specialist will be brought on board.

The arrival of the AGRP follows many months of meetings and consultations between the university and government officials. In 2002 the federal government, which had already been working with the United Nations studying and promoting the issue of animal genetic resources, sought to establish a centre much in the same model as the PGRC germplasm repository. After much negotiation, the government awarded the new centre to the University.

Initial research at the APRG will be directed towards conserving genetic diversity of cattle and sheep.  Determining the amount of genetic diversity between different breeds of livestock, which breeds are best stored, how to best store them and how many of each animal needs to be preserved will be the first step. This research will then expand into preserving other species, such as poultry. Samples collected through the APRG will be stored within the PGRC facility.

Located at the Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada – Saskatoon Research Centre on the University of Saskatchewan campus, the PGRC maintains a collection of more than 100,000 germplasm samples taken from every corner of the globe. Since starting his position in 1996, Richards has helped to build a germplasm collection that could only be described as momentous in proportions.

The germplasm repository infrastructure is as impressive as its collection. Specially designed walk-in vaults were built to preserve seeds in a variety of climate controlled environments including the crypropreservation of some germplasm in liquid nitrogen. The facility’s long-term storage vault, maintained at a brisk -20⁰C, contains dozens of 8 foot-high aisles, each storing literally thousands of samplings. It is estimated that the entire collection is held in over 650,000 envelopes, making the PGRC one of the largest plant germplasm repositories in the world, according to Richards.

“In addition to the 106,000 samples, we acquire about 2,500 new samples every year from around the world,” said Richards.

The facility has come a long way in a short time. The PGRC was first established and located in Ottawa by the Department of Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada in 1970. In 1998, the PGRC opened the repository at Agri-Food Canada – Saskatoon Research Centre to house samples including foreign and indigenous plants, wild and weedy crop species, and threatened species and genetic stocks. With numerous established producers, crop developers and plant breeders, and one of the world’s top rated Colleges of Agriculture, Saskatoon was a natural choice for a germplasm repository.

“Our primary purpose and responsibility is to aid in the long-term preservation of plant species to help protect the biodiversity of plants native to Canada and the world,” said Richards. His vision is shared by the Canadian government, whom in 1992 signed onto the Convention of Biodiversity, which in part, aims to conserve and protect invaluable food and agriculture genetic resources. 

A considerable portion of the PGRC’s germplasm archive consists of crops not native to Canada, such as wheat, corn and soybean. In the early 1970’s, the PGRC took on the responsibility for holding the principle global base collections for barley and oat crops, as well as duplicating base collections of pearl millet and oilseed.

The PGRC stores native germplasm of significant economic benefit including blueberries, strawberries, raspberries, sunflowers and currants. Germplasm for native forage and grass species including brome grass, wild rye and a variety of bluegrasses, are also held in the repository.

Genetic resources continue to play an important role in the improvement of existing crops, and the protection of endangered species. Genetic research and cross breeding has resulted in a substantive yield increase of many key food crops in the latter part of the 20^th century,  improving insect, weed and climate resistance. Preservation of rare or endangered crops will also aid in the preservation of genetic diversity, which may be of significant future benefit not only to food crop supplies, but for protecting plant species which contain medicinal benefits.

“We maintain a strong link of communication with the breeding community in helping maintain genetic diversity,” said Richards. Much of the scientific research conducted at PGRC is focused on the genetic diversity of staple crops like flax, oat, pulse crops and wheat, as well as native Canadian crops. Research focuses on the regeneration, characterization, plant pathology screening of germplasm, and documentation of the collection.

Growing awareness about the loss of genetic diversity has spurred a trend among scientists and plant breeders to move away from genetic ‘purification’ known as allelic reduction or genetic refining.

A classic example of genetic refining can be seen in Canadian oat breeding during the later half of the 20^th century. “After World War II, you had a high level of interest and a lot of highly educated scientists that were focused on breeding plants with only the most desirable of genetic traits,” said Richards, as visualized in the illustration from a study published by the Crop Science Society of America.

While breeding for desirable genetic traits can have short-term benefits to combat disease and to produce better yields, genetic diversity will be far more beneficial in the long-term, Richards added. “Continuing allelic reduction will only make it more difficult to continue selective breeding if there is little diversity (left) in a cultivar.”

Preserving long-term viability and bio-diversity of plants and animals make facilities like the PGRC and AGRP important global players for genetic research and puts Saskatchewan on the map as a leader in plant and animal genetic resources.

Volume 2 Issue 2 in PDF format: http://www.agwest.sk.ca/publications/documents/abbjun05.pdf