The collection includes more than 1,500 accessions of cultivated and wild species of banana. The accessions are kept in vitro under slow growth conditions at 16°C. For security, samples are frozen in liquid nitrogen at –196°C. Such cryopreserved material can be conserved indefinitely and revived into full banana plants as needed. In addition, this frozen collection is safety duplicated at the Institut de recherche pour le développement (IRD) in Montpellier, France.
The University of Liege, Biotech Gembloux, Belgium provides virus-indexing and plant health services. Virus negative material is freely available for international distribution upon request from the MGIS website, which holds passport data on all ITC accessions. Samples are accompanied by a health statement, phytosanitary certificate and a copy of the Standard Material Transfer Agreement.
ITC collaborates widely with partners in many locations around the world through the Musa Genetic Resources Network (MusaNet).
Banana
Key Staff
Head of Genetic Resources: Nicolas Roux
Genebank Manager: Ines Van den Houwe
Cryopreservation Specialist: Bart Panis
External links
Status of Bioversity genebank according to performance targets
| 2016 | |
|---|---|
| Accessions | 1,544 |
| Availability | 62% |
| Safety duplication | 60% |
| Passport Data Completeness Index (Average) | 5.77 |
