Examples of accessions that are part of the European Collection (available under SMTA)
Vitis vinifera L. – wine grape traditional cultivar ‘Malvasija dubrovacka’ from Konavle, Croatia, accession N. VIT00046, conserved in Zagreb, Croatia(Photo by: Edi Maletic, University of Zagreb, Croatia)
Examples of accessions that are part of the European Collection (available under SMTA)
Solanum tuberosum L. – potato cultivar ‘Kerkovske rohlicky’, accession N. 07S0100551, conserved in Havlíčkův Brod, Czech Republic(Photo by J. Domkarova / PRI, Czech Republic)
Examples of accessions that are part of the European Collection (available under SMTA)
Hordeum vulgare L. – winter barley cultivar ‘Fabian’, accession N. 01C0502112, conserved in Kroměříž, Czech Republic(Photo by Z. Nesvadba / CRI - Prague, Czech Republic)
Examples of accessions that are part of the European Collection (available under SMTA)
Lactuca sativa L. – cutting lettuce ‘Ibis’, accession CGN14606, characterization trial in 2008Photo by R. van Treuren – Centre for Genetic Resources, the Netherlands
AEGIS - A European Genebank Integrated System
AEGIS is the ECPGR initiative aiming to efficiently conserve and provide access to unique germplasm in Europe through the establishment of the European Collection. European governments can become AEGIS members and contribute to the decentralized European Collection by identifying genetically unique accessions, labeling them as part of AEGIS, conserving them at agreed quality standards in the Associate Member genebank/institutions and making them available in accordance with the terms and conditions (SMTA) set out by the FAO International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture.
The 'AEGIS Plus' project
Building on the New AEGIS project, the follow-up initiative AEGIS Plus will continue strengthening the European genebank system by advancing quality monitoring tools and updating core operational guidance, supporting technical skill development and promoting consistent procedures across AEGIS partners, and assessing the availability, use and distribution of AEGIS material to identify bottlenecks and opportunities for improvement.
The project is funded by the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity.
The 'New AEGIS' project
Funded by the German Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Regional Identity, the project aimed to strengthen AEGIS by improving quality and transparency in its Associate Member genebanks and to reinforce EURISCO by including dispersed phenotypic data from previous European projects.
Genebank capacity building peer visits
Visiting and reviewing each other’s genebanks contributes to improving the quality of genebanks. After each visit, a report is written with observations and recommendations.
The first cycle of mutual visits began in 2019 and continues today.
The resulting reports are available here.
Latest News More
A new German-funded project aimed at improving quality and access in European genebanks has been approved and will run from 2025 to 2026
Hungary joins AEGIS for the first time with 559 accessions
The total number of contributing countries to AEGIS rises to 26
Strengthening plant genetic resource conservation and access: the ‘New AEGIS’ project
A new German-funded project will improve transparency, data integration and genebank standards of AEGIS members and increase EURISCO coverage.