A newly published paper by Phillips et al presents a consolidated descriptor list designed to support the in situ conservation of plant genetic resources (PGR), marking a significant step forward in building the data foundations needed to protect crop diversity in the field.
Plant genetic resources, including crop wild relatives (CWR), wild harvested plants (WHP) and landraces (LR), are increasingly recognized as vital for food security, climate adaptation and resistance to pests and diseases. While ex situ conservation in genebanks benefits from decades of standardized data management tools, in situ conservation – protecting plants in their natural or farming environments – has long lacked comparable data infrastructure. This paper directly addresses that gap.
The authors compiled and reviewed descriptor lists from a wide range of past PGR and biodiversity conservation activities, identifying overlaps, inconsistencies and missing elements. The result is a single, unified list of 171 descriptors covering all major aspects of in situ conservation, from basic passport data to the monitoring and management of wild and on-farm populations. Of these, 7 are designated as mandatory, 47 as core and 91 as recommended for more thorough assessments. Twenty-nine descriptors are entirely new, developed specifically to fill gaps in existing in situ documentation.
The list is designed to be flexible: users can filter descriptors by the type of PGR they are working with – CWR, LR or WHP – and select the level of detail appropriate to their needs and resources. A subset of the descriptors is also tagged for use in specific assessments, such as IUCN Red Listing, landrace threat assessment and the designation of in situ genetic reserves.
It is estimated that wider in situ implementation could double the PGR diversity accessible to breeders and researchers, and this newly developed descriptor list is a crucial step in building a solid data infrastructure.
Read the full paper:
Phillips J, Magos Brehm J, Adam-Blondon AF, Avagyan A, Delalande M, Đurić G, Fresta L, Forycka A, Gailite A, Gay L, Guzzon F, Iriondo JM, Lambokas J, Palmè A, Prohens J, Raggi L, Sandru D, Sarikyan K, Thormann I, van Hintum T, Weise S, Zdunić G, Maxted N. Development of a consolidated descriptor list to support in situ conservation of plant genetic resources. Plant Genetic Resources: Characterization and Utilization. 2025:1–11. doi: https://doi.org/10.1017/S1479262126100562
This paper was developed in the context of the ‘Promoting a Plant Genetic Resource Community for Europe (PRO-GRACE)’ project, funded by the EU Horizon Programme.