my country's first! The "Noah's Ark" of the seed industry is here

On October 20, China's first provincial comprehensive germplasm resource bank, the Sichuan Germplasm Resources Center Bank (hereinafter referred to as the Center Bank), was fully operational in the Tianfu Modern Seed Park in Qionglai City, Chengdu City, Sichuan Province.

Logo of Sichuan Germplasm Resource Center

Image source: Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences

Seeds are the source of agricultural production, and the cultivation of fine varieties is inseparable from rich germplasm resources. China's thousands of years of agricultural civilization has nurtured a large number of germplasm resources. Germplasm refers to the genetic material passed from the parent generation of crops to the offspring. It often exists in specific varieties, such as ancient local varieties, newly cultivated promotion varieties, important genetic materials, and wild related plants, all of which fall within the scope of germplasm resources. Agricultural germplasm resources are strategic resources for ensuring national food security and the supply of important agricultural products .

The Sichuan Provincial Germplasm Resource Center is currently the only provincial comprehensive germplasm resource bank in the country and an important part of the national germplasm resource preservation system. The center can preserve 1.884 million copies (doses) of various germplasm resources, including 524,000 copies of plant germplasm resources, 50,000 copies of edible fungi germplasm resources, and 1.31 million doses of livestock and aquatic germplasm resources . It has a positive impact on the protection and utilization of germplasm resources in Sichuan and the southwest region, promoting modern seed breeding innovation, and ensuring food security and the supply of major agricultural products. In addition, the preservation period of germplasm resources in the center can reach up to 50 years, which can meet the needs of standardized preservation of animal and plant germplasm resources in Sichuan in the next 30 to 50 years, and can be called the " Noah's Ark " of the seed industry.

Image source: CCTV News

What kind of seeds are eligible for storage? How to store them?

Germplasm resource banks place more emphasis on the diversity of resources rather than simply judging by "good" or "bad". As long as they have characteristics that are different from other resources, they can be preserved.

But when a seed is sent to the warehouse, it is not as simple as putting it in a bottle and putting it away. When a seed is sent here, it needs to go through a whole set of processes of the intelligent control system : first, it is dried, which needs to be completed at a temperature of 15℃ and an air humidity of 15%, ensuring that the dryness and humidity of each seed in storage are almost the same, while maintaining its activity; the treated seeds will be placed in a special storage box for packaging, first pass through the buffer area to adapt to the warehouse, and then enter the storage warehouse through the conveyor track.

The entire storage warehouse is unmanned and sterile, so all work is done by intelligent robotic arms, which can identify the barcode of each storage box and then put the storage box on the designated shelf.

At the same time, each type of seed has different storage requirements, and the entire germplasm resource bank is also divided into many areas. For example, the long-term storage warehouse needs to maintain a temperature of -20°C all year round, and the storage time can reach 50 years; some need to enter the medium-term warehouse, and the room temperature needs to be between 0°C and -4°C. Different types of germplasm resources have different storage methods. Some animal germplasm resources preserve their semen and egg genetic components, and these resources will be sealed with liquid nitrogen according to the situation.

The central library focuses on the three major functions of "storage, analysis and use".

"Storage" is the primary task of the central bank, which is to preserve the germplasm resources collected in the southwest region and even nationwide;

"Analysis" mainly focuses on the identification, mining and analysis of germplasm resource genes to improve the efficiency of germplasm resource utilization;

"Use" refers to the research and utilization of germplasm resources, using beneficial genes to breed new and improved varieties, and promote the development of the seed industry.

In agricultural modernization, seeds are the foundation and the key to food security.

Comprehensive sources: Xinhuanet, CCTV News, Science and Technology Daily, Sichuan Daily, Tianfu Modern Seed Industry Park WeChat public account, etc.