[PCA] Two article highlight importance of seedbanking: An inventory of crop wild relatives of the U.S. // U.S. a surprisingly large reservoir of crop plant diversity

[De Angelis, Patricia]

NOTE: The full versions of both of these articles appear to be available
free of charge...*An Inventory of Crop Wild Relatives of the United States*

Colin K. Khoury, Stephanie Greene, John Wiersema, Nigel Maxted, Andy Jarvis and
Paul C. Struik

Crop Science July/August 2013 vol. 53


*Abstract*

The use of crop wild relatives (CWRs) in breeding is likely to continue to
intensify as utilization techniques improve and crop adaptation to climate
change becomes more pressing. Significant gaps remain in the conservation
of these genetic resources. As a first step toward a national strategy for
the conservation of CWRs, we present an inventory of taxa occurring in the
United States, with suggested prioritization of species based on potential
value in crop improvement. We listed 4600 taxa from 985 genera and 194
plant families, including CWRs of potential value via breeding as well as
wild species of direct use for food, forage, medicine, herb, ornamental,
and/or environmental restoration purposes. United States CWRs are related
to a broad range of important food, forage and feed, medicinal, ornamental,
and industrial crops. Some potentially valuable species are threatened in
the wild, including relatives of sunflower (*Helianthus annuus* L.), walnut
(*Juglans regia* L.), pepo squash (*Cucurbita pepo* L.), wild rice (
*Zizania* L.), raspberry (*Rubus idaeus* L.), and plum (*Prunus
salicina*Lindl.), and few accessions of such taxa are currently
conserved ex situ.
We prioritize 821 taxa from 69 genera primarily related to major food
crops, particularly the approximately 285 native taxa from 30 genera that
are most closely related to such crops. Both the urgent collection for ex
situ conservation and the management of such taxa in protected areas are
warranted, necessitating partnerships between concerned organizations,
aligned with regional and global initiatives to conserve and provide access
to CWR diversity.

*Full article: **https://www.crops.org/publications/cs/abstracts/53/4/1496
<https://www.crops.org/publications/cs/abstracts/53/4/1496>*

*----*


*U.S. a surprisingly large reservoir of crop plant diversity *

American Society of Agronomy

*May 16, 2013 -- *North America isn't known as a hotspot for crop plant
diversity, yet a new inventory has uncovered nearly 4,600 wild relatives of
crop plants in the United States, including close relatives of globally
important food crops such as sunflower, bean, sweet potato, and strawberry.


The findings from the study in *Crop
Science*<http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.2135/cropsci2012.10.0585>are good
news for plant breeders, who've relied increasingly in recent
years on the wild kin of domesticated crops as new sources of disease
resistance, drought tolerance, and other traits.

The not-so-good news is that many of these "crop wild relatives" are
currently threatened by habitat loss, pollution, and climate change, says
lead author Colin Khoury of the International Center for Tropical
Agriculture (CIAT) in Cali, Colombia. For instance, a wild sunflower
species that breeders have used to restore fertility and create salt
tolerance in cultivated sunflower is also globally imperiled. Another 62
taxa in the inventory are listed under the U.S. Endangered Species Act.

Full story:
https://www.agronomy.org/story/2013/may/thu/us-a-surprisingly-large-reservoir-of-crop-plant-diversity-0
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