Collecting and managing in situ banana genetic resources information (Musa spp.) using online resources and citizen science.

The Musa Germplasm Information System (MGIS) stands as a pivotal database for managing global banana genetic resources information. In our latest effort, we have expanded MGIS to incorporate in situ observations. We thus incorporated more than 3000 in situ observations from 133 countries primarily sourced from iNaturalist, GBIF, Flickr, Pl@ntNet, Google Street view and expert curation of the literature. This addition provides a more comprehensive and detailed view of banana diversity and its distribution. Additional graphical interfaces, supported by new Drupal modules, were developed, allowing users to compare banana accessions and explore them based on various filters including taxonomy and geographic location. The integrated maps present a unified view, showcasing both in situ observations and the collecting locations of accessions held in germplasm collections. This enhancement not only broadens the scope of MGIS but also promotes a collaborative and open approach in documenting banana diversity, to allow more effective conservation and use of banana germplasm. Furthermore, this work documents a citizen-science approach that could be relevant for other communities. Database URL: https://www.crop-diversity.org/mgis/musa-in-situ.

State of ex situ conservation of landrace groups of 25 major crops.

Crop landraces have unique local agroecological and societal functions and offer important genetic resources for plant breeding. Recognition of the value of landrace diversity and concern about its erosion on farms have led to sustained efforts to establish ex situ collections worldwide. The degree to which these efforts have succeeded in conserving landraces has not been comprehensively assessed. Here we modelled the potential distributions of eco-geographically distinguishable groups of landraces of 25 cereal, pulse and starchy root/tuber/fruit crops within their geographic regions of diversity. We then analysed the extent to which these landrace groups are represented in genebank collections, using geographic and ecological coverage metrics as a proxy for genetic diversity. We find that ex situ conservation of landrace groups is currently moderately comprehensive on average, with substantial variation among crops; a mean of 63% ± 12.6% of distributions is currently represented in genebanks. Breadfruit, bananas and plantains, lentils, common beans, chickpeas, barley and bread wheat landrace groups are among the most fully represented, whereas the largest conservation gaps persist for pearl millet, yams, finger millet, groundnut, potatoes and peas. Geographic regions prioritized for further collection of landrace groups for ex situ conservation include South Asia, the Mediterranean and West Asia, Mesoamerica, sub-Saharan Africa, the Andean mountains of South America and Central to East Asia. With further progress to fill these gaps, a high degree of representation of landrace group diversity in genebanks is feasible globally, thus fulfilling international targets for their ex situ conservation.

MGIS: managing banana (Musa spp.) genetic resources information and high-throughput genotyping data.

Database URL: https://www.crop-diversity.org/mgis/.