SW China's germplasm bank of wild species: "Noah's Ark" for wildlife

Photo shows a glimpse of the germplasm bank of wild species in southwest China. (Photo courtesy of the Kunming Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences)

A germplasm bank of wild species in southwest China has preserved over 10,000 types of wild plant seeds, accounting for about 50 percent of the country's total, according to the Kunming Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Initiated in 2004, the germplasm bank was founded three years later. Also known as the "Noah's Ark" of China's wildlife, the germplasm bank has now emerged as a major kind of national scientific and technological infrastructure, and the only comprehensive preservation facility storing wildlife germplasm resources in China.

Up to now, the seed bank has preserved 10,601 types of wild plant seeds, 2,093 types of plant in vitro culture materials, 7,324 types of DNA molecular materials, 2,280 types of microbial strains and 2,203 types of animal germplasm resources, fulfilling the long-term construction goals approved by the National Development and Reform Commission across the board, said Yu Fuqiang, deputy director of the bank.

In recent years, China has made great strides in the construction and operation of conservation facilities for wildlife germplasm resources. Among them, the germplasm bank of wild species in southwest China invented a new technology for the preservation and utilization of germplasm resources.