Communications on BRC, biological resources and their projects

The H2020 G2P-SOL project (2016-2021) pooled 14 global collections of the 4 major cultivated Solanaceae species.

Over the centuries, the way in which soils have been perceived and studied has changed greatly. At the same time, soil research has continued to develop, based on the evolution of concepts, the development of new technologies and the inclusion of soils in many interdisciplinary studies.

From genomics to ecophysiology, the Amaizing project has called on many scientific disciplines to meet the needs of the agricultural world, while finding solutions for adapting corn cultivation to climate change. Alain Charcosset, research director at UMR GQE, talks to us about ten years of research.

This plantation will constitute a genetic conservatory, unique in Europe, of two major Mediterranean pine species, Pinus halepensis (Aleppo pine) and Pinus brutia. INRAE Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur and its Ecology of Mediterranean Forests laboratory in Avignon are contributing to this project for species specific to the Mediterranean region (cypress, pine, cedar, fir, etc.). In this context, INRAE and the RARe forest pillar are looking for sites that are suitable for hosting conservatories.

The Vegetable Biological Resource Center of RARe's Plant Pillar maintains and disseminates five plant collections in seed form: the eggplant, bell pepper, tomato, melon, and lettuce collections, as well as their wild and cultivated relatives. A recent publication in the special issue Plants "10th Anniversary of Plants-Recent Advances and Perspectives" introduces the collections.

The Vassal vine collection of the RARe plant pillar represents a unique heritage in the world. The genetic resources include more than 8,500 accessions from over 50 countries. Several factors led INRAE to organize the transfer of this collection, first of all taking into account the medium-term environmental risks. The major asset of this project lies in the grouping on a unique place (Pech Rouge) of research and experimentation activities "from vine to wine" (from genetic heritage to oenological elaboration) thus offering coherence and visibility on its themes.

In a recent special issue article in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Plant Pillar scientists demonstrated how to sustainably improve genetic gain in crop plants using relay populations and genetic diversity management.

Within the animal pillar, a recent study published in the journal GSE highlights that many local breeds of French chickens constitute an important reservoir of neutral and adaptive diversity. They are generally free-range and territory-associated, and thus potentially adapted to a wide range of environmental conditions, which may be useful for coping with global warming and making the agro-ecological transition.

Genetic diversity is the genetic variability between individuals in the same population or between populations. In the case of livestock, breeds are often equated with populations, and the diversity they contain is essential for their evolution and adaptation. However, breeding is about selecting the best individuals and therefore does not maintain the full diversity of animals. However, it is possible to freeze semen from bulls to preserve it and potentially use it later.

This is the first time that an international consortium has brought together world leaders in sunflower research in the fields of ecology, economics, genetics and biotechnology, right through to sunflower ecology and breeding. Around the Horizon Europe HelEx - Helianthus Extrêmophiles project, 18 partners will be working to develop new sunflower varieties that are more resistant to high temperatures and drought, while maintaining production quality and biodiversity services.