If I were to collect seeds and store them in a seed bank, would that be a genetic snapshot of the plants I collected? A review by Yong-Bi Fu says not. He states that as plants evolve to adapt to their environments, so genetic changes should be expected in seeds conserved under genebank conditions. This has implications for long-term plant germplasm management and conservation, and projects built on that, like food security.
Fu analysed genetic data from seeds stored for up to 50 years. In earlier work he and his colleagues sequenced barley, wheat, oat, soybean, maize, rapa (Brassica rapa L.), and sunflower that were conserved in Plant Gene Resources of Canada. This and other studies have found evidence for mutational changes over time.
This doesn’t mean that genebanks are failing, but simply that change is a constant. He even opens his introduction with a quote to that effect from Heraclitus. Most of these changes will not significantly alter plant traits, and seed banks will remain vital to preserve crop diversity.
Fu notes that worries about genetic changes are nothing new, and concerns were raised back in the 1970s. He shows that scientists were right, and genetic changes are occurring, but nevertheless, the seeds remain useful. Knowing this is happening gives seedbanks the opportunity to try changing practices to reduce the effects of mutation.
Fu, Y-B. 2024. Will a plant germplasm accession conserved in a genebank change genetically over time? Frontiers in Plant Science. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpls.2024.1437541
