Coordinator

Thierry BEULÉ, F2F team - This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The preservation of plant genetic resources is a primary concern for the sustainability of crop breeding programmes.

The most commonly used method for achieving resources preservation is seed storage. However, under the conditions that are currently used in oil palm breeding stations, these non-orthodox seeds have a shelf-life that is limited to only 1 to 1.5 years. For this plant species, the maintenance of the different genotypes of interest therefore relies on field collections that take up large expanses of land and are labor-intensive, while being vulnerable to fluctuations in natural conditions (climatic and phytosanitary).

Our project aims at developing a seed cryopreservation process taylored for oil palm seeds, since in similar cases cryopreservation techniques have provided a credible alternative to field collections through ensuring long-term germplasm preservation in a secure and cost-effective way. This work is conducted within the UMR DIADE cryobology facilities through a collaboration with S. Dussert (ADvENS team).

Partnerships (past and current)

SAS PalmElit, France

INRAB CRA-PP, Pobè, Benin

ARCAD (Agropolis Resource Center for Crop Conservation, Adaptation and Diversity), France

Further reading

Beulé T, Ilbert P, Adéoti K, Durand-Gasselin T, Dumet D, Engelmann F & Morcillo F. 2018. Recovery of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq) somatic embryos cryostored for 20 years. CryoLetters, 39: 60-66.