Coordinated by Claudie PavisINRA (National Institute for Agronomic Research, France)

SafePGR: Towards Safer Plant Genetic Resources through improved viral diagnostics

NET-BIOME FINAL CONFERENCE15 February 2012, Paris

1- INRA Guadeloupe (UR ASTRO)2- Cirad Guadeloupe (TGU AGAP)3- Cirad Montpellier (UMR BGPI)4- Cirad La Réunion (UMR PVBMT) 5- INRA Bordeaux (UMR BFP)6- Biotechnology Centre Azores (University)7- ISOPlexis Gene Bank Madeira (University)

1) Partner’s consortium, budget and agenda

Project’s duration: 3 years - March 2012 to February 2015

91 k€ 53 k€180 k€ 33 k€100 k€ 51 k€ 45 k€

Total budget: 1 450 k€ - Requested contribution: 553 k€

1- Inra Guadeloupe (UR ASTRO)2- Cirad Guadeloupe (TGU AGAP)3- Cirad Montpellier (UMR BGPI)4- Cirad La Réunion (UMR PVBMT) 5- Inra Bordeaux (UMR BFP)6- Biotechnology Centre Azores (University)7- ISOPlexis Gene Bank Madeira (University)

1) Partner’s consortium, budget and agenda

2) The five goals of the SafePGR project Develop reliable and portable tools for detecting viruses conserved in tropical and subtropical germplasm collections

Assay the viral biodiversity present within crops that are critical to the agriculture of Guadeloupe, Réunion, Azores and Madeira

Develop regional expertise in the field of viral diagnosis

Facilitate sanitation procedures within biological ressource centres (BRCs)

Secure the dissemination of virus-free germplasm to extension services (within and between European overseas territories)

Improve knowledge on the diversity of viruses infecting crops targeted

by the project : banana, garlic, sugarcane, sweet potato, vanilla and yam

3) Objectives

Develop optimized and portable diagnostic methods for the routine detection of viruses in these 6 crops

Develop bioinformatics tools available for all the partners of the project

What is the molecular diversity of reported (« already-known ») viruses that are present in the main crops conserved in BRCs in Azores, Guadeloupe, Madeira and Réunion?

Conversely, are conventional diagnostic methods best suited to cover the molecular diversity of known virus species infecting crops targeted by the project?

Are metagenomics approaches efficient and portable for improved viral diagnostic?

What are the global and local population structures of the viruses infecting tropical conserved crops? Could we decipher routes of transmissions of these viruses?

3) Research questions

What is the virome (the genomes of all the – known and unknown - viruses that inhabit a particular organism) of plants conserved in BRCs?

Broad inventory of inter and intraspecific viral diversity in crops targeted by the project

Effectiveness of quarantine and sanitation procedures

Safer germplasm movement from BRCs by preventing the introduction and spread of viral diseases

4) Expected results

Capacity-building in modern diagnostic tools for virology labs of Guadeloupe, Azores, Madeira and La Réunion

Enhancement of the management of germplasm collections through the ability of BRCs to carry out:

reliable viral diagnostic safer germplasm movement

4) Perspectives for development

Increased diversity within cropping systems:

Virus-free germplasm is necessary to breeding programmes, which aim at developping improved varieties adapted to changing biotic, climatic and socio-economic contexts

Thank you for your

attention!

A website is already available!

http://internet.antilles.inra.fr/astro/safepgr/