Current Status of Yam (Dioscorea Sp) Genetic Resources-Case Study of Selected Locations in South-West Nigeria

Yam is an important tuber crop in Nigeria. Some locations in South west Nigeria (Oyo State, Ondo State, Osun State, and Ogun State) were surveyed to find out the existence and the abundance of diversity of white guinea yam (Dioscorea rotundata). It was discovered that there are also diversity in other species of landrace yams (Dioscorea cayenensis, Dioscorea alata, Dioscorea dumentorum). One unidentified species of yam was found in Ondo State. This species also exist in Osun State. Some of the yam diversities are endangered. Genetic erosion of these yam diversities is imminent because of the decline of the traditional farmers growing these diversities; also because of modern commercial farms that tend to mono-cropping of improved variety and also because of problem of storage of yams and especially ex-situ conservation of yam genetic resources of yam in Nigeria.

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Indigenous chicken genetic resources in Bangladesh: current status and future outlook

Animal Genetic Resources Information ◽

10.1017/s1014233900001899 ◽

2005 ◽

Vol 36 ◽

pp. 73-84 ◽

Cited By ~ 12

Author(s):

A.K.F.H. Bhuiyan ◽

M.S.A. Bhuiyan ◽

G.K. Deb

Keyword(s):

Body Weight ◽

Genetic Resources ◽

Production System ◽

Egg Production ◽

Phenotypic Variability ◽

Genetic Erosion ◽

Current Status ◽

Cash Income ◽

Indigenous Chicken ◽

Indigenous Chickens

SummaryLivestock, especially poultry, is a promising sector for poverty reduction in Bangladesh. Approximately 140 millions chickens are scattered throughout 68 000 villages in the country, mostly of indigenous, non-descript type. The production system for indigenous chickens is smallholder backyard scavenging in nature with each family keeping an average of 6–7 chickens to meet family requirements, and from which a cash income can also be derived when necessary. Indigenous chickens produce about 75% of the eggs and 78% of the meat consumed domestically. Among said indigenous chicken genetic resources, non-descript Deshi, Aseel and Naked Neck breeds are noteworthyThe non-descript Deshi chicken constitutes about 90% of the indigenous population. Also known as ‘Murghi’, they have undergone unknown periods of natural selection and are a reservoir of excellent genetic diversity. They show high levels of morphological and phenotypic variability and increased fitness under natural settings. Studies reveal that they may be regarded as one breed or population because of the small genetic distances among them. Deshi chickens are characterized by black (75%) and red (25%) plumage colour; black (39%), yellow (32%) and white (29%) shank color; black (99%) eye color; bright red (59%) and pale (41%) comb colour; white (82%) and yellow (17%) skin colour; no definite (61%) and lacing (17%) feather pattern; medium (70%) and large (19%) body size; single comb (97%) and rudimentary spur (98%); medium egg size (80%); light brown (67%) and white (27%) egg shell colour. Regarding production traits, Deshi chickens have average hatch weight of 29 g; body weight at 4, 8, 12 weeks; weekly weight gain (0–12 weeks) of respectively of 77, 175, 315, 24 grams; age at first egg (175 days); weight of pullet (0.9 kg); mature body weight (1.3 kg); hatchability (52%); fertility (83%); annual egg production (45 -50 eggs); 9% mortality up to 500 days of age.The indigenous chicken population of Bangladesh has been undergoing genetic erosion since the 1960s, following the introduction of improved stock from developed countries. Efforts to sustain commercial hybrid broiler and layer chicken farming under intensive and semi-intensive production models have been tested, but efficiency of systematic characterization, screening, breed improvement and conservation programmes with the indigenous Deshi chickens at the smallholder village levels (in-situ) of Bangladesh are yet to be tested. Such an initiative may help to save these creatures from the grip of thethreat of extinction. This in turn may help to sustain village chicken production system in Bangladesh and could be a useful micro-economic strategy in the on-going poverty alleviation process in the country.

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DIVERSITY OF PINEAPPLE GENETIC RESOURCES IN CUBA: THREATS AND ACTIONS FOR MINIMIZING LOSSES

Revista Fitotecnia Mexicana ◽

10.35196/rfm.2017.1.93-101 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 93-101

Author(s):

Daymara Rodríguez-Alfonso ◽

Miriam Isidrón-Pérez ◽

Dubiel Alfonso-González ◽

María J. Grajal-Martín ◽

José I. Hormaza-Uroz ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Resources ◽

Plant Genetic Resources ◽

Field Trips ◽

Ex Situ ◽

Current Status ◽

Eastern Region ◽

Germplasm Preservation ◽

Germplasm Diversity ◽

Research Action

Conservation of plant genetic resources (PGR) is essential to preserve diversity and to provide genes for plant breeding. This paper assesses the current status of pineapple PGR diversity in Cuba and actions are proposed to minimize the loss of diversity. In situ diversity was evaluated through field trips to different locations across the country, evidence was found that pineapple germplasm diversity is low. Only three (Spanish, Cayenne and Pernambuco) out of the five horticultural groups of this crop are presently planted at Cuba. Red Spanish is the predominant cultivar, and White Pineapple is an endangered one. The highest diversity was found at the Eastern region, where it was possible to find at least two different cultivars from each of these three groups. The ex situ pineapple collection contains 56 accessions, 45 % belong to the Spanish group, 20 % to Cayenne and 14 % to Pernambuco, while the rest are hybrids, improved cultivars and other related species. Threats of diversity loss were identified by the Research-Action-Participation method. Farmers and experts agreed that growing of the most common cultivars is being abandoned and consequently, there is high risk of loss of in situ diversity. Results document the low diversity of pineapple genetic resources in the country and the need to use in situ and ex situ conservation approaches as complementary strategies for germplasm preservation for future generations.

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Pangolins in south-west Nigeria – current status and prognosis

Oryx ◽

10.1017/s0030605300028283 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 28 (1) ◽

pp. 43-50 ◽

Cited By ~ 23

Author(s):

Olufemi A. Sodeinde ◽

Segun R. Adedipe

Keyword(s):

High Risk ◽

The State ◽

Current Status ◽

Wild Animals ◽

Forest Habitat ◽

Ogun State ◽

South West ◽

Medicinal Use

Despite being officially listed as endangered in Nigeria, pangolins are still hunted in Ogun State, where deforestation has fragmented and reduced their forest habitat. To investigate pangolin status in the state, the authors interviewed hunters, forest workers and market traders selling wild animals or their parts for medicinal use. The authors also counted pangolins stocked by market traders during weekly visits to markets in six towns/villages. Only one of Nigeria's three pangolin species, Manis tricuspis, was encountered frequently. Hunters' reports and evidence of forest destruction suggest that even this species is becoming rare. An estimate of extinction-susceptibility shows that pangolins are at fairly high risk. Creation of sanctuaries for pangolins and other important sympatric vertebrates in forest relicts in south-west Nigeria and the establishment of semicaptive pangolin populations are advocated.

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Conservation of Genetic Diversity of Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.)

Bulletin of University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine Cluj-Napoca Agriculture ◽

10.15835/buasvmcn-agr:2021.0001 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 78 (1) ◽

pp. 11

Author(s):

Cristian ALBU ◽

Aurel MAXIM ◽

Raluca Maria PÂRLICI

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Genetic Resources ◽

Western Europe ◽

Genetic Erosion ◽

Farming Systems ◽

Ex Situ ◽

International Convention ◽

High Productivity ◽

Convention On Biodiversity

Among the main problems encountered with crop plants, the most important one is represented by genetic erosion. At world level this issue has been debated within the Convention on Biodiversity adopted in UN Conference of Rio de Janeiro and The International Convention regarding Genetic Resources of Plants for Alimentation and Agriculture. In Europe, the regulations in this field are made by the European Directive 98/95 EEC. Across time tomatoes have suffered a heightened process of genetic diversity, phenomenon caused by industrialized farming which is based on the use of very uniform varieties with high productivity. The extension of green agriculture, has led to the use of landraces, because they respond best to the traditional farming systems. In Western Europe organizations of peasants had been founded and, they are involved in different activities aiming at conservation of traditional forms of agriculture and the use of old varieties. In Romania the institutions with continuous preoccupations in the field of vegetal genetic conservation, especially landraces, are the Gene Bank from Suceava and UASMV Cluj-Napoca. By using conservation methods (in situ and ex situ), the genetic erosion surely phenomenon of vegetal genetic resources, implicitly tomatoes, is reduced, the future generations will benefit from valuable genetic resources.

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Survey for The Conservation of Agrobiodiversity in Three Italian Linguistic (Occitan, Croatian and Franco-Provençal) Islands.

Journal of Biology and Life Science ◽

10.5296/jbls.v4i1.2147 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 4 (1) ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Gaetano Laghetti ◽

Giovanni Ghiglione ◽

Antonino De Lisi ◽

Gina Maruca ◽

Francesco Losavio ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Genetic Resources ◽

Genetic Erosion ◽

Ex Situ ◽

Common Beans ◽

Plant Genetics ◽

Crop Genetic Resources ◽

Apulia Region ◽

Crop Science ◽

Linguistic Islands

This study is a continuation of a research started in 1996 to study and safeguard the agrobiodiversity in Italian linguistic islands by the Institute of Plant Genetics of the C.N.R. of Bari (Italy) and the Institute of Crop Science of Kassel University (Germany). In 2011 additional three collecting missions were carried out in the Franco-Provençal, Croatian, and Occitan linguistic areas. In all 146 accessions were collected belonging mainly to landraces of cereals, pulses and vegetables. Even if these linguistic areas still conserve worthy crop genetic resources (e.g. rye and wheat in Occitan districts, common beans in Franco-Provençal villages of Apulia region), a strong genetic erosion of the most typical crops was recorded. Safeguarding these crops both ex situ and in situ is thus a matter of urgency.

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The Current Status of Indigenous Ovine Genetic Resources in Southern Africa and Future Sustainable Utilisation to Improve Livelihoods

Diversity ◽

10.3390/d12010014 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

pp. 14 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Annelin Henriehetta Molotsi ◽

Bekezela Dube ◽

Schalk Willem Petrus Cloete

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Genetic Resources ◽

Southern Africa ◽

Smallholder Farmers ◽

Genetic Erosion ◽

Current Status ◽

Linear Measurements ◽

Indigenous Sheep ◽

Southern Africa Development Community ◽

Namaqua Afrikaner

Indigenous sheep play an important role in the livelihoods of communal farmers in the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC), and this underlines the need to curb the genetic erosion of these valuable resources. This contribution reports that the phenotypic performance and genetics gains of institutional and commercial sheep in Southern Africa are well recorded. In contrast, there is a dearth of knowledge as far as the performance and genetic gains of indigenous ovine genetic resources utilized by smallholder farmers are concerned. High levels of genetic diversity have been observed in exotic breeds, whereas low levels of genetic diversity were found in the Zulu and Namaqua Afrikaner breeds. Phenotypic measurements for indigenous resources include linear measurements indicative of size and reproduction for Zulu sheep. Lamb survival, reproduction and resistance to ticks of the indigenous, fat-tailed Namaqua Afrikaner sheep, as well as growth and reproduction have also been recorded for Sabi and Landim sheep. This review discusses ways to sustainably utilize ovine genetic resources, which includes the suggested implementation of structured breeding and conservation programs, marketing, improving feed resources, health and diseases, as well as gender and age issues. Clearly, there is ample room for further research and development as far as the performance and improvement of African indigenous sheep are concerned.

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Plant Biodiversity and Genetic Resources Matter!

Plants ◽

10.3390/plants9121706 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (12) ◽

pp. 1706

Author(s):

Andreas W. Ebert ◽

Johannes M. M. Engels

Keyword(s):

Plant Breeding ◽

Genetic Resources ◽

Genetic Erosion ◽

Crop Wild Relatives ◽

Ex Situ ◽

Benefit Sharing ◽

Ecosystem Functions ◽

Plant Biodiversity ◽

Access And Benefit Sharing ◽

Genebank Management

Plant biodiversity is the foundation of our present-day food supply (including functional food and medicine) and offers humankind multiple other benefits in terms of ecosystem functions and resilience to climate change, as well as other perturbations. This Special Issue on ‘Plant Biodiversity and Genetic Resources’ comprises 32 papers covering a wide array of aspects from the definition and identification of hotspots of wild and domesticated plant biodiversity to the specifics of conservation of genetic resources of crop genepools, including breeding and research materials, landraces and crop wild relatives which collectively are the pillars of modern plant breeding, as well as of localized breeding efforts by farmers and farming communities. The integration of genomics and phenomics into germplasm and genebank management enhances the value of crop germplasm conserved ex situ, and is likely to increase its utilization in plant breeding, but presents major challenges for data management and the sharing of this information with potential users. Furthermore, also a better integration of in situ and ex situ conservation efforts will contribute to a more effective conservation and certainly to a more sustainable and efficient utilization. Other aspects such as policy, access and benefit-sharing that directly impact the use of plant biodiversity and genetic resources, as well as balanced nutrition and enhanced resilience of production systems that depend on their increased use, are also being treated. The editorial concludes with six key messages on plant biodiversity, genetic erosion, genetic resources and plant breeding, agricultural diversification, conservation of agrobiodiversity, and the evolving role and importance of genebanks.

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Conservación de recursos genéticos de la agrobiodiversidad como apoyo al desarrollo de sistemas de producción sostenibles

Ciencia y Tecnología Agropecuaria ◽

10.21930/rcta.vol10_num1_art:126 ◽

2009 ◽

Vol 10 (1) ◽

pp. 33 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Mario Lobo Arias ◽

Clara Inés Medina Cano

Keyword(s):

Genetic Resources ◽

Environmental Changes ◽

Production Systems ◽

In Situ Conservation ◽

Genetic Erosion ◽

Added Value ◽

Ex Situ ◽

Conservation Strategies ◽

Conservation Costs

El crecimiento poblacional y los cambios en el entorno requieren de la disponibilidad de diversidad genética para el desarrollo de sistemas de producción sostenibles, eficientes y competitivos. Esto implica colectar, conservar y conocer los atributos de las poblaciones en mantenimiento de especies de valor actual y taxones relacionados, al igual que entidades biológicas con potencial de desarrollo, lo cual cobra importancia dada la creciente erosión genética. Esto plantea la necesidad de estrategias complementarias de conservación ex situ e in situ, dando prioridad a la variabilidad genética a ser incluida en el proceso, debido a los costos de mantenimiento, y considerar factores no sólo económicos sino también sociales, así como los limitantes actuales para acceder a la diversidad internacional. Este artículo presenta una revisión sobre la importancia de la conservación de los recursos genéticos vegetales, animales y de microorganismos de la agrobiodiversidad, e incluye una discusión y algunos aspectos requeridos para la priorización de taxones y tipo de materiales que se deben incluir en el proceso. Para ello, se parte de la premisa de que la conservación de la diversidad genética sirve para la realización de procesos de valor agregado y de utilización posterior. Agrobiodiversity genetic resources conservation for the development of sustainable production systems Human population growth and environmental changes require the availability of genetic diversity for the development of sustainable, efficient and competitive production systems. This means collection, conservation and characterization of the attributes present in the genetic resources of current important taxa and wild related, and promising species with development potential, which is magnified for a current genetic erosion. It requires complementary ex situ and in situ conservation strategies as well as prioritization of the diversity to be included in the process, due to the conservation costs, considering not only economic values, but also social aspects and the access limitations to genetic resources at international level. The current paper includes a revision related to the importance of the conservation of the plant, animal and microorganisms genetic resources, concerned to agrobiodiversity, with some discussion related to this topic, as well as aspects to be considered for the priorities of species and type of materials to be conserved. For such purpose, the premise is that such diversity, after added-value processes, could be used for the development of sustainable agricultural production systems.

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Back to beaked: Zea mays subsp. mays Rostrata Group in northern Italy, refugia and revival of open-pollinated maize landraces in an intensive cropping system

PeerJ ◽

10.7717/peerj.5123 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 6 ◽

pp. e5123 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Nicola Maria Giuseppe Ardenghi ◽

Graziano Rossi ◽

Filippo Guzzon

Keyword(s):

Zea Mays ◽

Genetic Resources ◽

Crop Improvement ◽

Genetic Erosion ◽

Cropping System ◽

Northern Italy ◽

Ex Situ ◽

Intensive Cropping ◽

Governmental Institutions ◽

On Farm

Crop landraces are fundamental resources to increase the eroded genepool of modern crops in order to adapt agriculture to future challenges; plus, they are of immeasurable heritage and cultural value. Between the 1940s and the 1960s open-pollinated varieties (OPVs) of flint and semi-flint maize in Europe were almost completely replaced by high-yielding hybrid dent cultivars selected in North America. No comprehensive assessment was performed after the 1950s to understand which maize genetic resources survived genetic erosion in northern Italy, an area characterized by a high degree of landraces extinction and introgression, intensive hybrid dent monocultures, as well as being one of the hotspots of maize cultivation at a continental level. Among these landraces, beaked maize represents a peculiar case study for assessing the survival of OPVs in intensive cropping systems. By means of ethnobotanical and literature surveys, the history of Zea mays subsp. mays Rostrata Group and its current distribution were reconstructed. It emerged that beaked maize originated in the study area and it is one of the oldest genepools available not subjected to formal crop improvement. We identified 28 landraces of beaked maize currently cultivated, 18 here recorded for the first time. The cultivation of more than half of the 28 landraces has continued throughout the last 80 years in a few fragmented localities that can be regarded as “refugia”. The survival of these landraces from substitution with high-yielding cultivars and unidirectional introgression has been mainly due to active on-farm conservation performed by custodian farmers and secondarily to cultivation in isolated areas (e.g., mountain valleys). After decades of genetic erosion, beaked maize has since the late 1990s experienced a revival, in terms of an increasing number of cultivation localities and the level of product commercialization. This process is mostly spontaneous and only occasionally mediated by governmental institutions; it is linked to the rediscovery of local food products, in this case mainly polenta, a dish made of corn flour, which used to be the staple food across northern Italy. The ex situ conservation of beaked maize and on-farm measures put in place by the farmers to prevent introgression are also assessed. Further research and collecting missions are needed to provide an inventory of open-pollinated landraces of other landrace groups that have survived genetic erosion in Europe. To meet this aim, extensive ethnobotanical surveys, such as the one performed here, are very powerful tools in detecting these genetic resources.

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