Maintaining separate maternal lines increases the value and applications of seed collections

Abstract

Context Given the effort and resources that go into collecting and maintaining seed collections, it is crucial that we maximise their usefulness. Conservation, restoration and research rely heavily on good quality collections in order to establish new populations, create habitat, minimise extinction and address scientific questions. Aims Although seed viability, excellent metadata and genetic representativeness make for good quality collections, we provide 10 detailed reasons why the maintenance of separate maternal lines further increases the quality and usefulness of seed collections. Key results Maternal line seed collections can accommodate new information, this is especially important given the increasing longevity of seed collections. For example, maintaining separate maternal lines facilitates accommodation of taxonomic changes, minimises the impact of erroneous plant identifications, and facilitates separation of polyploid races, hybrids and inappropriate lineages. Separate maternal line collections also facilitate better estimates of the genetic diversity captured, and consequently better inform conservation translocations and the establishment of conservation gardens and seed orchards. Separate maternal line collections can also expedite breeding for specific traits, such as disease resistance or other selective challenges that impact on biodiversity conservation. New seed microbiome data show how only some maternal lines contain pathogenic fungi, reminding seed collectors and collections managers that contamination can be better contained by keeping each maternal line separate. Conclusions and implications Maintaining separate maternal lines is a simple and effective way to increase the value of seed collections for multiple applications.

Seed science in Australasia: regionally important, globally relevant

“…Genetic analysis can also provide empirical data to develop targeted seed sampling strategies that capture as much new genetic diversity as possible in ex situ conservation. Van der Merwe et al (2023) extend this, advocating for the storage of maternal lines to increase potential conservation applications. The utility of genetic analyses was demonstrated in biosecurity screening of imported crop seeds for virus detection (Maina et al 2021).…”