www.checkbiotech.org ; www.raupp.info ; www.czu.cz

Characterisation and conservation of genetic resources of crops, forest
trees, livestock and aquatic species are important for all countries, but
particularly for developing countries whose economies depend heavily on
these sectors, and where genetic resources are often threatened, November
2005.

A number of biotechnology tools are available that can help in
characterisation and conservation of such genetic resources, ranging from
relatively cheap and uncomplicated technologies to sophisticated,
resource-demanding ones.

In each of the crop, forestry, animal and fishery sectors, albeit to
different degrees, biotechnology tools are currently being applied in
developing countries for these purposes and numerous examples of the wide
range of applications were provided during this FAO e-mail conference.

Of the different biotechnologies, most discussions were about molecular
markers, in particular their use for characterisation of genetic resources,
where issues such as the advantages or disadvantages of different marker
systems and the proposal to develop a universal molecular marker database
were debated.

In situations involving potential use of marker and non-marker information,
such as development of a core collection of plant genebank accessions or
prioritisation of animal breeds for conservation purposes, there was general
consensus that decisions should not be based on marker information alone and
that other factors, such as morphology and agronomic performance, should
also be considered.

The merits of several in vitro techniques, including tissue culture,
cryo-preservation and DNA storage, were considered with a view to
conservation of genetic resources, where e.g. DNA banks for plants were seen
as potentially complementing but not replacing seed banks, at least in the
near future.

The ability to apply these biotechnologies in developing countries is
currently limited by the lack of sufficient funds, human capacity and
adequate infrastructure.

The importance of human resource capacity building was highlighted. There
was a general call for greater collaboration among researchers and
practitioners, particularly at the regional level, to reduce costs and pool
limited resources, and between developed and developing country
institutions. A role was seen for international organisations, including
FAO, and the centres of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural
Research (CGIAR), in coordinating these collaborative efforts and in
supporting these capacity building activities.

Full Report: FAO Electronic Forum on Biotechnology in Food and Agriculture
[www.fao.org]

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