Genetic Resources For Use Research Articles

Ecotypes of Italian ryegrass from Swiss permanent grassland outperform current recommended cultivars

Italian ryegrass (Loliummultiflorum Lam. ssp. italicum Volkart ex Schinz et Keller) thrives well in permanent grassland in mild and moist regions of Switzerland. Ecotypes of Italian ryegrass from Swiss permanent meadows have often been used successfully as the base material of breeding programmes. However, their agronomic performance per se has never been studied in detail. Therefore, field trials were conducted to assess the potential of this semi-natural genetic resource for use in breeding. Twenty ecotype populations were collected in different geographical regions in 2003 and seed was increased. Plot trials with 20 ecotype populations were conducted 2005–2007 at three locations, supplemented by row trials at two additional locations, and including four currently recommended cultivars as controls. Average performance in terms of yield, vigour and resistance to snow mould of ecotypes was superior to the cultivars. Depending on the characteristic, between three and 16 of the 20 ecotypes performed significantly better than the cultivars mean. However, resistance against crown rust of all ecotypes was significantly poorer than that of the cultivars. Correlation and regression analysis showed that more eastern and more northern collecting sites harboured better performing ecotypes. However, the most consistent site related factor favouring performance of the ecotypes in terms of yield, vigour, snow mould and Xanthomonas resistance was a low abundance of species which are typical of Arrhenatheretum type meadows. Data from the plot trials were related to results obtained with spaced plants at a single site, either in a seedling nursery or in the greenhouse. Resistance against crown rust was extremely well predicted by spaced plant observations. Xanthomonas resistance observed after artificial inoculation in the greenhouse was also significantly, but less closely correlated with field observations. An early date of ear emergence as observed on spaced plants was associated with high annual yield in the plot trials. It is concluded that in intensively managed habitats, natural selection has resulted in ecotype populations of Italian ryegrass which are highly promising for use in breeding. Individual plant selection for resistance can be expected to efficiently reduce their high susceptibility to crown rust.

Ethnobotanical and phytochemical studies on some species of Senna in Nigeria

An ethnobotanical search on five species of Senna within and around Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria showed their relevance in the local herbal medicine. These plants include Senna tora, S. occidentalis, S. alata, S. podocarpa and S. siamea. The phytochemical screening of their leaves revealed some major groups of pharmacological importance including alkaloids, flavonoids, tannins, phlobatannins, saponins and anthraquinones. The study establishes some concordance between the local medicinal applications of the plants investigated and their constituent phytochemical groups which are relevant to the pharmaceutical industry. It presents the plants as potential sources of raw materials in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Lastly it confirms ethnobotany as a viable tool in search for plant genetic resources for use in the industries.

The Social Value of Biodiversity for R&D

The value of genetic resources for use in research and development (R&D)activities has been the subject of a literature modelling the activity as onewhere individual firms engage in optimal search. Here we develop a moregeneralised framework in which genetic resources are used in R&D at thebase of an industry that addresses recurring problems of resistance, as inthe pharmaceutical or plant breeding industries. The R&D process is onein which firms are engaging in a continuing contest of innovation againsta background of both creative destruction (Schumpeterian competition) andadaptive destruction (natural selection and adaptation). This frameworkdemonstrates that the search model is conceptually inadequate because itfails to incorporate the important dynamic characteristics of biologicalphenomena. We then demonstrate the important differences between firm-based valuation of genetic resources and the social value of geneticresources for use in this contest of innovation. There are six externalitiesin private patent-based genetic resource valuation, and five of theseindicate that private valuations will under-estimate social values.

The World's Crop Genetic Resources and the Rights of Indigenous Farmers

Farmer or folk crop varieties developed over many generations by indigenous farmers are an important component of global crop genetic resources for use by both industrial and indigenous agriculture. Currently there is a debate between advocates of indigenous farmers' rights in their folk varieties and the dominant world system, which vests intellectual property rights to crop genetic resources only in users of those resources for industrial agriculture. While indigenous peoples at the individual and group levels do have a broad range of intellectual property rights in their folk varieties, they define and use them differently than does the industrial world. Therefore, industrial‐world intellectual propery rights mechanisms are generally inappropriate for protecting the intellectual property rights of indigenous farmers, but some could be used effectively. To meet indigenous farmers' need for protection, new approaches are being developed that embed indigenous farmers' rights in folk varieties in cultural, human, and environmental rights. More research on the cultural, social, and agronomic roles of folk varieties, ongoing negotiation of the meaning of key concepts such as “crop genetic resources,” “rights,” and “indigenous,” and an emphasis on a common goal of sustainability will help to resolve the debate.

The urgent need for forest conservation in highland Guatemala

More species of conifers, especially pines, are present in highland Guatemala than in any other area of equally low latitude. Thus, the arborescent flora of highland Guatemala constitutss a unique genetic resource for use in afforestation projets of other tropical montane areas. This valuable genetic resource is seriously threatened by an alarming rate of deforestation. Although the past 30 years have been the period of most rapid population growth in Guatemalan history, the demise of the highland forests cannot be regarded simply as a consequence of the post-World War II demographic explosion. Significant pressure on resources can be traced back to the pre-Hispanic period; as early as the 18th century, erosion resulting from forest destruction and over-grazing by sheep was a critical problem in highland Guatemala. The safest strategy for preserving the unique genetic resources of the absorescent flora of highland Guatemala probably lies in a massive programme of seed and pollen collection for storage in seed-banks and in the establishment of ex situ conservation stands.