Enhancing the conservation and utilization of rice genetic resources through innovative technology

Rice breeding programs are dependent on the vast rice gene pool represented in gene banks for the source of genes and novel alleles that can be used to mitigate problems in rice production. the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) [Los Baños, Laguna, Philippines] maintains the largest collection of rice genetic resources with over 117,000 accessions available at its International Rice Genebank. Innovations in technology are expected to expand the toolbox for the management and conservation of the collection that will help enhance the long-term preservation of biodiversity and the easy access of germplasm and germplasm-related information. As early as 2005, the genebank has implemented the use of barcoding technology for the precise inventory of seed stocks, making more efficient the distribution and regeneration of germplasm. Barcoded labels printed on polyester paper using thermal printer have been tested for readability and durability under field and screenhouse conditions for an expanded application. Efficient paper less data collection using Android technology is expected to result in immediate data validation and accurate data downloading from tablets to workstations, making it an ideal tool in germplasm characterization. The use of Image Analyzer, a technology that extracts meaningful information from images, is being explored for the measurement and characterization of grain attributes including traits like pubescence, awning, and colors. Innovative technologies are also being employed in allele mining the Oryza germplasm to uncover novel genetic variations that can be of great importance to rice improvement programs. The high resolution genotyping of 2000 diverse accessions with 1 million SNPs is being carried out on an Affymetrix genotyping chip developed at Cornell University while whole genome sequencing of about 10,000 unique accessions uses next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology. Novel alleles and their donor accessions can then be targeted to marker assisted breeding programs.