Conservation and Change: A Comparison of In-Situ and Ex-Situ Conservation of Jala Maize Germplasm in Mexico.
(C08-rice667674-oral)
Authors:
E.B. Rice* - Cornell Univ.
M.E. Smith - Cornell Univ.
S. Kresovich - Cornell Univ.
Abstract:
Conservation efforts have targeted the giant maize from the town of Jala, in the Mexican state of Nayarit, for decades. This population genetic study employs microsatellite marker analysis to compare the Jala variety found in farmers' fields today with the Jala variety found in the genebank (1944, 1951, 1952, 1968, and 1988 accessions.) The study has implications for understanding how varieties change with time, both in farmers' fields and in genebanks. Preliminary results based on eight farmers' fields, as a composite of modern Jala, show remarkable similarity across the valley within a given year.
Furthermore, the balanced data set allows comparisons between farmers' fields, Jala genebank accessions, diverse landrace accessions and teosinte relatives in order to address questions about distribution of diversity. For example, the average Jala variety from a farmer's field contains 44% of the alleles found in the entire data set (including diverse landraces and teosintes.) These data shed light on how much diversity is present and how it has been partitioned through time. As such, our findings have important implications for how diversity has been managed in the fields of farmers, as well as in genebanks.
Speaker Information: Elizabeth Rice, Cornell Univ., 103 Elmwood Ave, Ithaca, NY 14850; Phone: 607 256 7626; E-mail: [email protected]
Session Information: Thursday, November 6, 2003, 8:10 AM-10:05 AM Presentation Start: 8:15 AM
Keywords: genetic diversity; maize; in-situ conservation; ex-situ conservation