The extent of use of plant genetic resources in research - A literature survey

Our aim was to assess the level of use of conserved plant genetic resources (PGR) in crop genetic research, To do this, we analyzed in detail the repo rts from four internationally recognized journals published in 1996, These journals were Crop Science, Euphytica, Plant Breeding, and Theoretical and Applied Generics. Our results indicate that about 23% of the articles publi shed in these journals reported work conducted with material that originate d in an ex situ PGR collection or was collected directly in the field, We a lso analyzed our results to determine the range of species and research top ics involved, the sources of materials used, and the users of PGR for resea rch, Of the material used, 80% was accessed from ex situ germplasm collecti ons housed in genebanks in 27 countries and seven centers of the CGIAR, The rest of the studies utilized material gathered directly in the field. Almo st all work was produced at national research renters and universities; ver y little work h om private industry was published in the journals covered. Just under 20% of the institutions represented by authors were located in d eveloping countries. Work published involved 112 species and included asses sments of genetic diversity among accessions (42% of the studies), studies of the inheritance of biotic stress resistance (29%), taxonomic and phyloge netic analyses (16%), as well as cytologic, molecular and conservation rese arch, Our research demonstrates a significant use of conserved material in research.