Data management and development of documentation system for plant genetic resources in Bulgaria

Nikolaya Velcheva, Asya Stoyanova-Doycheva, Simona Cheperigova

Abstract: During the period 2007-2021 the fund of the National Genebank in the Institute of Plant Genetic Resources – Sadovo is enriched with 12.454 accessions. 6.571 accessions are acquired through expeditions, conducted by national and international projects. A great diversity of cereal, grain legume and vegetable local varieties from home gardens and crop wild relatives from natural habitats are collected. There are 4.628 accessions, introduced from foreign genebanks or botanical gardens by international free exchange. 1.255 advanced cultivars and lines from breeding institutes in Bulgaria are preserved. The main purpose of data management is to identify the accession in the process of conservation, study, reproduction, free exchange and sustainable use of germplasm collections. The electronic register includes the following passport information: taxonomy, catalogue number, acquisition date and source, country of origin, donor, collecting site, ecology-geographical characterization, biological status, and type of storage, according to FAO/Bioversity descriptor. The standard allows Bulgarian ex situ collection to be published on the European Search Catalogue for Plant Genetic Resources EURISCO. National Inventory includes passport data of 69.768 accessions. From 2020 intelligent documentation system with specialized software, functional ontologies for free access to plant genetic resources for all stakeholders and assured security of records through blockchain technologies are being developed. This work is supported by Bulgarian National Science Fund under the project BGPlantNet “Establishment of National Information Network GenBank – Plant genetic resources”, and the obtained results will be applied in the National Research Program “Smart Crop Production”.

Keywords: electronic register; EURISCO standard; European collaboration; free access; passport descriptor; plant diversity

Date published: 2023-04-25