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China banks on seeds to protect biodiversity
中国建立野生生物种质资源库以保护生物多样性


Beijing, China
December 8, 2009

by Peng Kuang, SciDevNet

genebank_Flickr_IRRI Images.jpgChina has set up its first national seed bank as part of the country's efforts to protect biodiversity.

The Southwest China Germplasm Bank of Wild Species was declared operational at an opening ceremony last month (24 November). The seed bank, established at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Kunming Institute of Botany in Yunnan Province, contains more than 30,000 wild seeds from plants on the verge of extinction in China.

The seed bank has the capacity to store many more samples and will offer full access to researchers, said Li Dezhu, the institute's director, at the ceremony.

"Germplasm is vital for a country's security and core interests," Gao Lizhi, director of the institute's Plant Germplasm and Genomics Centre, told SciDev.Net. "Its significance lies not only in scientific research, but also in food security, energy supply and ecology."

Gao is leading a research project on oil-rich plants that can be used to produce bioenergy.

One important outcome of China's research into germplasm resources is hybrid rice, which was developed by scientists including Yuan Longping in central China's Hunan Province. Since the 1970s, hybrid rice varieties have yielded more than 350 billion kilograms of grain.

"A country can be revitalised by a gene," said Xue Dayuan, chief scientist for biodiversity conservation at the Nanjing Institute of Environmental Science. "The germplasm bank will promote bio-resource research and identify more useful genes like hybrid rice," he said.

Construction of the bank began in 2004. Apart from plant seeds, it bank stores DNA and microorganism samples. It also contains 590 samples of wild seed from 21 foreign countries and the Kenya-based World Agroforestry Centre. The target is to preserve up to 190,000 biological samples in the next 15 years.

"The best way to preserve gene resources is to preserve them in their local natural environment," said Xue. "But the bank is also good, and a less expensive way to protect germplasm from extinction."


中国建立野生生物种质资源库以保护生物多样性

作为保护生物多样性的重要举措之一,中国建立了第一个国家级种质资源库。

11月24日,中国西南野生生物种质资源库在中国科学院昆明植物研究所正式投入运行。目前,资源库收集了3万逾种濒临灭绝的野生植物的种子。

中科院昆明植物研究所所长李德铢介绍,资源库具有容纳“海量”种子采集所需的空间。

“种质资源关系到国家安全与国家根本利益,”昆明植物所物种质资源与基因学研究中心主任高立志告诉SciDev.Net,“在粮食、能源、生态等很多方面,种质资源都有很重要的作用。”

高立志目前领导的研究小组正在研究高含油量的植物,这些研究将有望用于生物能源的开发。

中国最重要的种质资源开发实例是由袁隆平等科学家参与研究的杂交水稻。自上世纪70年代以来,杂交水稻新增的粮食产量已超过3500亿公斤。

“一个基因可以振兴一个民族,甚至繁荣一个国家,”南京环境科学研究所首席科学家薛达元说,“种质资源库可保存大量物种基因,可为今后开发利用更多的杂交水稻等优良基因创造条件。”

种质资源库的建设工作始于2004年。除了植物种子,种质资源库还保存了总DNA以及微生物等样本。资源库还包括来自21个国家以及世界混农林业中心的590份野生种子。资源库的远期建设目标是在未来15年内,使收集量增加到19万份。

“由于人类活动加剧了物种资源的丧失速度,许多物种可能在没有发现之前就已丧失,”薛达元说,“种质资源库保存物种虽然效果不如就地保护,但仍然不失为一种非常有效的方法,可确保物种遗传信息的长期保存,缓解物种丧失的速率,为利用物种基因提供条件。”



More news from: SciDev.Net


Website: http://www.scidev.net

Published: December 8, 2009

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