A European Genebank Integrated System

A meeting of the AEGIS model crops curators and database managers will be held on 1-3 July 2008 in Radzików, Poland.

See: background documents relevant to the meeting.

The ECPGR Steering Committee agreed at its ninth meeting to work towards the establishment of an effective, efficient and rational European conservation system, initially focusing on the existing ex situ genebank collections.
The goal of AEGIS is to create A European Genebank Integrated System for plant genetic resources for food and agriculture, aimed at conserving the genetically unique and important accessions for Europe and making them available for breeding and research. Such material will be safely conserved under conditions that ensure genetic integrity and viability in the long term. Details of the AEGIS concept are spelled out in the Strategic Framework document (to be finalized), describing its membership, the scope of the genetic resources to be covered, the kind of activities to be included, its operational approach and the benefits that are anticipated through the implementation of AEGIS. The Strategic Framework document was able to take advantage of a feasibility study that was conducted during a two year period and which used the expertise of four model crops, i.e. Allium, Avena, Brassica and Prunus species. Endorsement of this document by the ECPGR Steering Committee is pending.

At its tenth meeting, the ECPGR Steering Committee decided to continue the process of preparing operational elements and possible implementation mechanisms of the AEGIS concept. These and others are responsibilities of the appointed AEGIS Coordinator (see: ToRs [here]), based at the ECPGR Secretariat at Bioversity International, Rome, and operating under the supervision of the AEGIS Advisory Committee (see: ToRs [here]) for the two-year period, i.e. January 2007 until December 2008. A Local Task Force (see: ToRs [here]) provides a vehicle to AEGIS as well as to Bioversity to link the system to relevant broader initiatives as well as to facilitate the generation of synergies.

Based on the Strategic Framework, the AEGIS system will be using the existing organizational bodies of the ECPGR Programme, in particular that of its Steering Committee (for the oversight and provision of funds), the Crop Working Groups (as the principle coordinating bodies) and the National Coordinators (as the focal point for all AEGIS related activities in a given country). It is anticipated that the existing European information management systems, in particular EURISCO and the Central Crop Databases will play a key role in orchestrating the information management and the national and regional level.

AEGIS will allow all germplasm accessions and their related information designated to AEGIS to be readily available and easily accessible to users. Ex situ conservation of germplasm will be carried out according to common, agreed quality standards, independently of where the germplasm is physically located, and will be carried out in such a way that it will facilitate close linkages with in situ conservation, and will facilitate the use of and research into the germplasm. It is intended to develop AEGIS within the existing legal framework of the International Treaty and, where necessary, to extend its scope according to the spirit and intentions of the Treaty. Whenever possible, it is planned to use the Treaty’s mechanisms, procedures and instruments and thereby, contributing to its effective implementation.

Membership in AEGIS will be open to all the countries of the European Region and all the institutions of an AEGIS member country. With respect to the formal acceptance of conservation and supportive responsibilities in the framework of AEGIS it is anticipated that full participation of a country in the ECPGR will be necessary prior to joining AEGIS, in order to permit the necessary collaboration between countries. The signing of the collective Memorandum of Understanding is regarded as the expression of the willingness and interest of a given country to become a member of AEGIS.

AEGIS focuses primarily on the conservation and use of genetically unique and agronomically and/or historically/culturally important accessions for Europe (i.e. using the concept of Most Appropriate Accession of agricultural and horticultural species and their wild relatives of European origin or such species as have been introduced, are of importance for breeding and research in Europe and that are in the public domain. In addition, secondary criteria that will determine the selection of the European Accession when quasi-duplicate accessions are compared as possible alternative for inclusion will be identified by the respective ECPGR Crop Working Groups. These criteria will include aspects such as the comprehensiveness of existing passport data, the number of regeneration cycles, the health status, the existence of characterization and evaluation data, whether the accession is maintained in the country where it was collected or originated, and others. Whereas the primary criteria are intended to discriminate between accessions whether or not to be included in the European Collection, the secondary criteria are meant to facilitate the decision-making process which accession of a group of duplicates to accept for inclusion.

AEGIS relates to predominantly ex situ conservation activities that may take place in genebanks or other germplasm collections. Such conservation activities comprise typically acquisition, storage, safety-duplication, germination testing, regeneration, characterization and evaluation, documentation of accessions and distribution.