Approaching Asia's largest wild life germplasm resource "Noah's Ark"

 Dr. Zhang Ting had good luck on this trip to southern Yunnan.

He not only collected specimens and seeds of a number of rare plants such as Zhusheng Goat's Milk and Coriander Golden Waist, but also collected suspected new species of Primula and Orchid "in the journey and beyond luck".

Seeds are the carriers and transmitters of plant genetic information, the source of plant reproduction, and an indispensable strategic resource for a country.

In the dense woods on the top of Yuanbao Mountain in the northern suburbs of Kunming, China, there is a low-key and mysterious "national weapon"-the Southwest China Wildlife Germplasm Bank, also known as the "Noah's Ark" of my country's wildlife.

In the seed management laboratory on the second floor of this dark red building, Zhang Ting, a seed collector, opened layers of newspapers and presented the latest harvest from his trip to Mengzi, Yunnan five days ago.

"Every seed and every specimen is not easy to get; there should be a shelter for them in the national treasury." Zhang Ting said.

Also in this laboratory, after the seed cleaner Li Guihua cleaned up 2,000 dust-like orchid seeds, he moved to another station to inspect a gramineous plant-Elymus glabra once every ten years. Germination situation. After 7 days of awakening and resuscitation, the leaf buds were green, the roots stretched out, and 50 seeds successfully germinated. A smile appeared on Li Guihua's face.

"This is a sample taken from the tens of thousands of Elymus glabra seeds in the cold storage. Ten years later, the small seeds still have such vigorous vitality, which is really a happy thing." Li Guihua, who just turned 50, smiled Said, "There are still a lot of seeds to be preserved for hundreds of years, thousands of years, but at that time, it will be our children and grandchildren to test the activity of these little babies!"

As the only facility in my country that focuses on the conservation of wild biological germplasm resources, as of December 2020, the Southwest China Wildlife Germplasm Bank has preserved 10,601 species of 85,046 plant seeds, accounting for 36% of the number of seed plant species in my country; There are 2,093 species of 24,100 somatic culture materials, 2,203 species of 60262 animal germplasm resources, and 2,280 species of 22,800 microbial strains.

As the number of conservations ranked first in Asia, the "Seed Ark", together with the "Millennium Seed Bank" in the United Kingdom and the "Svalbard Global Genebank" in Norway, has become a leader in the protection of global biodiversity.

A generation of Confucian scholars worry about the world, "Seed Ark" was born at the right time

Yang Xiangyun, Senior Engineer, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, PhD in Seed Physiology, Executive Group Leader of Seed Physiology Research Group, Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences.

27 years ago, she did not have so many titles. Studious, young and full of yearning for the world. Soon after graduating from the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden of the Chinese Academy of Sciences with a master's degree, Yang Xiangyun got the opportunity to go to the UK as a visiting scholar.

"In fact, I really didn't know which direction to go. It was purely accidental. Just then, a classmate of mine had just visited the Royal Botanic Gardens-Kew Gardens and described the situation there to me. With curiosity , So she applied for Kew Garden Seed Storage Physiology and the Department of Plant Science of Cambridge University. Invitation of Professor Pritchard.

From April 1994 to May 1999, Yang Xiangyun spent five years in the seed world of Qiu Garden, exploring complex and diverse seed structures, learning the seed storage technology and advanced concepts of world-renowned gardens, and then carrying "a martial arts". Back to his hometown of Yunnan.

At that time, in the “plant kingdom” Yunnan, academician Wu Zhengyi, the master of plant taxonomy in my country, the editor-in-chief of Flora of China, and the honorary director of the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences, was thinking about a profound and forward-looking question: the habitat of a large number of plants Loss, over-collection, environmental pollution, invasion of alien species, release of genetically modified plants, and climate change have brought global wildlife resources the biggest test since the five mass extinctions in the history of the earth. How should the academic community respond?

On August 8, 1999, Wu Zhengyi wrote a letter to Comrade Zhu Rongji, then Premier of the State Council, explaining the inadequacy of my country’s wildlife protection measures and the urgency and urgency of building a wildlife germplasm bank in Yunnan, where the biodiversity is the most abundant. Necessity, and pointed out that this is the strategic focus of my country's biotechnology industry and where the national interest lies. The letter was quickly approved, and the Yunnan Provincial Government and the Chinese Academy of Sciences immediately launched related work on scientific investigations and feasibility studies.

"I can't help but say, I'm very lucky!" Speaking of an accidental choice and an almost "seamless connection" opportunity, Yang Xiangyun sent the short post back, as if he had devoted himself to the career of his life at that time.

It was moved in 1999, the construction was officially started in 2005, and it was completed and put into operation in 2007. As the chief technologist, Yang Xiangyun and researcher Li Dezhu, a young talent who had already emerged in the field of plant classification and molecular phylogeny at that time, and the project chief researcher Li Dezhu joined hands to take on the important task of constructing this large scientific infrastructure of our country.

From scientific research to project positioning, the sketches written by Li Dezhu and Yang Xiangyun’s team have become clearer and clearer. The preservation model of “five libraries in one” has also become another innovative move in the world biological community: the plant seed bank is used as the core library. It has both in vitro plant library, plant DNA library, animal germplasm library, and microbial library.

The top of Yuanbao Mountain is 1958 meters above sea level. Even if the global climate continues to warm in the future or other catastrophic geological events occur, this germplasm resource bank will stand tall.

“We stand on the shoulders of our predecessors. The design concept and infrastructure construction can be said to have been well optimized. A 5-story building was built on the foundation project that can carry 30 floors above the ground. The cold storage is located 6 meters underground and provides stock seeds. I made a very safe home." Yang Xiangyun said.

Take the elevator downstairs from the seed management room to the main drying room and cold storage in the mountainside. Opening the heavy gray-white door, a blast of air-conditioning came from the main drying room of 80 square meters. At one end of the main drying room, there are neatly arranged 5 40-square-meter cold storage rooms, the walls of which have good heat preservation and moisturizing properties. Rows of steel frames are neatly arranged in the cold storage, one by one special sealed glass jars are filled with pure and plump seeds.

"The temperature here is kept at minus 20 degrees Celsius all year round. Under such a temperature, the seed life can be greatly extended, and some can survive for thousands of years. For example, the seeds of rice and wheat can survive for more than 3,000 years, while the cotton seeds can survive for 67,000 years. For a long time." said Dr. Cai Jie, director of the Germplasm Collection Center of the Germplasm Bank.

Due to the low temperature of the cold storage, in order to prevent frostbite, the seed manager must wear a thick down jacket and anti-freeze gloves before entering and exiting the storage.

Why small wild plant seeds become the core of strategy

Looking around the world, competition in the bio-industry has focused on the seed industry, and it has evolved into a war without gunpowder. The level of biotechnology with independent intellectual property rights will be an important manifestation of a country's national strength in the future.

In November 1970, Yuan Longping discovered male sterile plants of wild rice at Nanhong Farm in Sanya; three years later, the success of the "three-line" matching of indica hybrid rice started the "second green revolution" in rice production. Using a male sterile plant of common wild rice, hybrid rice was successfully cultivated, which increased rice yield by nearly 20%.

However, in the 1980s and 1990s, academician Hong Deyuan, the chairman of the Chinese Botany Society, conducted two inspections and found that in the 1980s, there were 26 wild rice distribution areas in Yunnan. By 1995, only two were left, and the disappearance rate was as high as 92.3. %. If wild rice goes extinct, it will not be as simple as the disappearance of an ordinary species. It is not only related to our country, but also related to the food security of all mankind.

Fortunately, in recent years, Cai Jie and his colleagues have successively preserved 4 kinds of Chinese wild rice seeds.

Every time they set foot in the distance, the diligent collectors look forward to new harvests in the wild. There is no limit to what role the silent wild rice seeds will play.

In the course of millions of years of evolution, wild plants have accumulated a variety of different genetic variations, containing many excellent genes that are not available in cultivated crops, such as disease and insect resistance, stress resistance, excellent quality, and cell male sterility And high yield, etc., are very good breeding materials.

“Whoever has a large amount of germplasm resources, who has studied more deeply and used more, will be able to grasp the future.” Cai Jie said, “With the severe environmental degradation and the sharp decline in biodiversity today, if we do not rescue Sexually collect and properly preserve our country’s wild biological germplasm resources, then how will we compete with resource-rich countries in the next step, and what will our future generations rely on?"

Through hybridization, people can transfer excellent genes from wild relatives to cultivated species, thereby increasing crop yields, enhancing their resistance to diseases and insects, as well as their ability to withstand climate change, and increasing their yields, flavors, and flavors. Nutritional value, etc., to meet people's production, survival and development needs.

There have been many food security incidents caused by a narrow genetic basis in human history. The most famous is undoubtedly the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s, which caused millions of people to live abroad.

The Chinese kiwifruit is native to China, but New Zealand has used it to cultivate a huge industry that currently dominates the international kiwifruit market.

"These examples show that a gene can affect the rise and fall of a country, and a species can influence the economic lifeline of a region." Li Dezhu said.

In recent years, in view of the rich collection of germplasm resources, the germplasm bank has been guided by the national strategic biological resource needs and the frontiers of discipline development. The team has used biochemistry and molecular biology as the main research methods to understand plant evolution, environmental adaptation, and germplasm. Scientific issues related to resource protection and utilization have been explored, and genetic resources in special environments have been deliberately explored, and new technologies for the preservation and utilization of germplasm resources have been invented.

Paphiopedilum armigera, saccharomyces edulis, Qiaojia pine, water pine... a large number of rare and endangered plants, as well as unique plant seeds with economic value, ecological value and scientific research value, and seeds of wild relatives are in the "Seed Ark". "Settle down. "Here, the safety of some species is guaranteed, making it possible for the rapid and efficient research and utilization of wild biological seed resources in our country. Through in-depth exploration and research, the genebank plays a role in crop improvement and innovation, new crop selection, ecological restoration and return to the wild. It becomes more prominent." Yang Xiangyun said.

"But from the perspective of the improvement of research capabilities and the capacity of the bank, it is no longer able to meet future needs. It is urgent to promote the construction of the second phase of the genebank." Li Dezhu said that in order to expand the capacity, the Seed Museum has been reluctantly withdrawn for emergency response. Transformation. It has been 14 years since the library was opened. On the one hand, there are already higher preservation goals; on the other hand, the overall research ability, research level and research team need to be greatly improved.