Integration of georeferencing, habitat, sampling, and genetic data for documentation of wild plant genetic resources

Abstract

Plant genetic resource collections provide novel materials to the breeding and research communities. Crop wild relatives may harbor completely novel forms of allelic variation for biotic and abiotic resistance as well as masked genes for improved quality and production. This variation has been shaped by the environment from which the plant materials were collected. With detailed original source information, genetic assessments of germplasm collections can go beyond the basic measurements of collection diversity and breeding for simple traits to assessments of natural variation in environmental contexts. Availability of detailed documentation of passport, phenotypic, and genetic data increases the value of all genebank accessions. Inclusion of georeferenced sources, habitats, and sampling data in collection databases facilitates interpretation of genetic data for genebank accessions with wild origins.