Genomic Exploration of Genebank Collections: Early Insights from Seeds of Discovery-Maize

At a time of unprecedented challenges to crop production the need to explore and use all available improvement mechanisms is paramount. One intervention available to scientists is the use of native genetic variation. For the major staple commodities the broadest reserves of this variation are typically housed in germplasm banks. There are a number of real and perceived barriers to the use of germplasm from bank collections. One barrier is the limited availability of data pertaining to the materials held in the bank; characteristics be they general or for a specific phenotype. Here we present work from the Seeds of Discovery project (SeeD), focusing on the comprehensive genotypic exploration and targeted use of specific genetic variation from the world’s broadest internationally available collection of maize germplasm.