{"id":33,"date":"2014-11-21T14:52:26","date_gmt":"2014-11-21T13:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ist.blogs.inra.fr\/wdi\/?page_id=33"},"modified":"2019-11-05T16:08:31","modified_gmt":"2019-11-05T15:08:31","slug":"germplasm","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ist.blogs.inrae.fr\/wdi\/germplasm\/","title":{"rendered":"Germplasm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Germplasm<\/strong>\u00a0is a term used to describe living genetic resources such as seeds or tissue, maintained for the purpose of breeding, preservation, and other research uses because it contains the information for a species\u2019 genetic makeup, a valuable natural resource of plant diversity.<\/p>\n

Genetic diversity of germplasm gives plant breeders the sustained ability to develop new high yielding, high quality varieties that can resist constantly evolving pests, diseases and environmental stresses. Sexually compatible wild species and landraces \u2013 ancestral varieties of crop species- are the key to genetic diversity. This is why plant genetic resources programs gather, preserve, evaluate, catalogue and distribute germplasm for people all over the world. The germplasm banks use descriptors to describe the germplasm and keep associated records. Germplasm collections can range from collections of wild species to elite, domesticated breeding lines that have undergone extensive breeders’\/farmers’ selection.<\/p>\n

Recommendations<\/h2>\n

Summary<\/span><\/h3>\n
    \n
  1. Data format: use data matrices in csv or Excel (For example GnpIS, BMS)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Metadata and vocabularies: use MCPD<\/a> as metadata format for passport and other variables data required for characterization of germplasm.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Databases<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n
    \n

    1. Data formats<\/h3>\n

    We recommend using data matrices in csv or Excel with minimum metadata as described in the FAO\/IPGRI Multi-crop Passport Descriptors (MCPD)<\/a> for passport and other variables data that are required for characterization of germplasm.<\/p>\n

    2.\u00a0Metadata and vocabularies<\/h3>\n

    The FAO\/IPGRI Multi-crop Passport Descriptors (MCPD)\u00a0<\/a>is a recognized specification for identification and\u00a0germplasm passport information exchange. It includes identification, managing institution, geographical information etc. The working group recommends using MCPD<\/a> because it provides the most commonly used descriptors in the genetic resources programs across the world. To be applied, this specification must be implemented in databases, exchange format and metadata format. For instance, all the terms\u00a0from the MCPD<\/a> are described in the\u00a0Multi-crop passport ontology<\/a> with a unique identifier for each vocabulary and it can be used or implemented in databases\/tools to make them interoperable.<\/p>\n

    The MCPD<\/a> has been reused\u00a0by several other crop descriptors published by Bioversity International and also by the\u00a0FAO World Information and Early Warning System (WIEWS)<\/a>\u00a0on plant genetic resources (PGR), the\u00a0GENESYS<\/a> global portal, the GRIN-Global<\/a> and the european portal EURISCO<\/a>. The Darwin Core extension for genebanks (DwC-Germplasm)<\/a><\/u>\u00a0is the result of mapping between\u00a0Darwin Core (DwC)<\/a>\u00a0and MCPD<\/a>.<\/p>\n

    For data managers, the working group recommends using DwC-Germplasm for database implementation, file formating, and data exposure as it covers MCPD.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

    3.\u00a0Databases<\/h3>\n