On October 20, Chengdu, China, marked the official launch of the Sichuan Provincial Germplasm Resource Center, the first comprehensive provincial germplasm repository in the country. This new facility is designed to preserve germplasm resources for up to 50 years, meeting the standardized storage needs for plant and animal genetic materials in Sichuan over the next 30 to 50 years.

Located in the Tianfu Modern Seed Industry Park in Qionglai, the center began construction in March 2022 and spans an area of 10.3 acres. The facility is divided into three main areas: a plant germplasm storage area, an animal husbandry and aquaculture region, and a public education exhibition zone. Acting as a “Noah’s Ark” for seed resources, the Germplasm Resource Center is capable of storing 1.884 million samples across various categories, which include 524,000 plant germplasm samples, 50,000 edible fungus samples, and 1.31 million samples of livestock and aquatic species.

Inside the center, a big data management platform on the second floor displays real-time information on the stored genetic resources, including scientific names, genus, species, phenotypic data, entry dates, and inventory counts. The centralized monitoring system tracks temperature and humidity levels in different functional storage areas. According to staff member Su Guozhao, the automatic medium-term storage maintains a temperature of around -4 degrees Celsius for a storage duration of 20 years, while the long-term storage is kept at around -20 degrees Celsius, intended for a 50-year preservation period.

The center focuses on three primary functions: “store, analyze, and utilize.” Yang Wuyun, Vice President of the Sichuan Academy of Agricultural Sciences, explained that the primary task is to preserve germplasm resources collected from both the southwestern region and across the nation. The “analyze” function emphasizes identifying and analyzing the genes within these resources to enhance their utilization efficiency. Finally, the “utilize” aspect relates to research and application, including the development of new and improved varieties through the use of beneficial genes, thereby promoting the growth of the seed industry.

Sichuan is recognized as a major province for germplasm resources in China and is one of the four national seed production bases, boasting a wealth of genetic resources in crops, livestock, and aquaculture. In the third national survey of crop germplasm resources, Sichuan led the country in the number of surveyed and systematically documented counties, as well as in the quantity of newly collected resources and selections of high-quality materials.