SEED BANKS: STORING THE WORLD’S PLANTS FOR THE FUTURE

Although you may have visited a bank in your lifetime, maybe to deposit or withdraw money, it is likely that you have never been to a seed bank. These buildings do not contain money or gold bars but instead hold something even more precious: the seeds or other materials of plants belonging to over 50,000 species—~12.5% of all known plant species. Human pressures on natural ecosystems threaten many plants, and protecting the vast array of plant life on Earth is critical for assuring that we can grow enough food for everyone on the planet in the years to come. For this reason, scientists have thought of freezing seeds and/or other parts of plants to preserve them and make them available for the future. Seed banks also allow scientists to study the history of certain plants, and these banks can provide them with the resources needed to change some plant traits in helpful ways.

Although you may have visited a bank in your lifetime, maybe to deposit or withdraw money, it is likely that you have never been to a seed bank.These buildings do not contain money or gold bars but instead hold something even more precious: the seeds or other materials of plants belonging to over , species-∼ .% of all known plant species.Human pressures on natural ecosystems threaten many plants, and protecting the vast array of plant life on Earth is critical for assuring that we can grow enough food for everyone on the planet in the years to come.For this reason, scientists have thought of freezing seeds and/or other parts of plants to preserve them and make them available for the future.Seed banks also allow scientists to study the history of certain plants, and these banks can provide them with the resources needed to change some plant traits in helpful ways.

GENETIC EROSION ALERT!
The DNA of each organism contains the information specifying the unique characteristics of that organism.For plants, these characteristics include the fruit's shape, color, and size.Unique combinations of characteristics result in thousands of plant species-a wealth of plant life called plant biodiversity.Although we often think

BIODIVERSITY
The variety of life on Earth, which can be measured by the variety that exists within the same species, how many di erent species exist, and even the variety of biodiversity in an ecosystem.
of biodiversity in terms of how many species exist in natural systems, like forests or jungles, it is also important for the crop species that serve as our food.
Like humans, plants have evolved from ancient forms over millions of years through evolutionary processes, including natural changes in their DNA and human choices of which plants to grow or breed together.As they have evolved, plants have acquired new helpful abilities, such as faster growth and increased production of foods, resistance to diseases, or tolerance to environmental stresses like drought.
Today, Earth's plant biodiversity is threatened by human pressures, including climate change, pollution, habitat loss, and more.Decreased biodiversity also reduces the number of small di erences between individuals of the same species, making all the members of a species increasingly similar.This process is called genetic erosion, and it can

GENETIC EROSION
Any natural or human-generated process that, over time, results in biodiversity loss in populations of the same species.make it more di cult for a species to survive.Artificial selection is

ARTIFICIAL SELECTION
A process humans control to modify living things, such as plants and animals, through selective breeding.
a process used by farmers to reproduce only plants with desirable characteristics (fast-growing, able to produce more/larger fruits, or able to produce fruits with a longer shelf-life), which has contributed to genetic erosion.To explain this concept, imagine a population of tomatoes with great biodiversity as a deck of playing cards.Each card represents a single tomato variety.Now imagine someone removing certain cards from the deck, one by one.The reduction in the diversity of cards represents what happens to a plant species through the process of artificial selection (Figure ).

WHAT IS GERMPLASM, AND WHY DO WE NEED TO PRESERVE IT?
Germplasm refers to the materials or tissues that store DNA and pass

GERMPLASM
The set of living genetic resources that can act as carriers of inheritance.
it on through the generations.In plants, germplasm consists of any tissue capable of regrowing an entire plant, such as seeds, bulbs, tubers, roots, cuttings, and seedlings.Germplasm collections are also known as seed banks, as they represent all the collected variants

SEED BANK
A special facility where seeds are stored in controlled conditions of temperature, humidity, and light to preserve the genetic diversity of plants for the future. of a plant species (Figure ).Plants are critical for Earth's other life forms, including humans, as they provide oxygen, food, medicines, and many other important products for our daily lives.For this reason, protecting plant biodiversity through germplasm conservation is essential because plant biodiversity is declining at an alarming rate.This means that many plant species are disappearing, and their unique  Similarly, the natural tomato population contains many varieties, but if farmers decide to grow or breed only a few types, the overall biodiversity of the tomato population will be reduced.
and essential properties are disappearing with them.Decreasing plant biodiversity also has consequences for food security, which is the

FOOD SECURITY
The idea that everyone has easy access to a ordable quality food they need to survive and thrive.availability and accessibility of food for everyone in the world.

NIKOLAI VAVILOV, THE HERO DAD OF GERMPLASM BANKS
Since prehistoric times, our ancestors have always stored the seeds of plants to ensure a future harvest.The idea of creating germplasm banks only came about in the twentieth century.Nikolai Vavilov, born in Russia in , was a botanist and geneticist who understood the importance of protecting plant biodiversity for agriculture and beyond.He dedicated his life to traveling the world to collect seeds and samples of wild and cultivated species [ ].In , Vavilov founded the Institute of Plant Industry in St. Petersburg, and his collection of seeds and plants was the largest in the world.For the most important species for human nutrition (such as wheat, beans, and cickpeas), he recovered the seeds from the locations where each species first appeared on Earth.For example, cereal seeds originated , 's of years ago in the Fertile Crescent in the Middle East.
Vavilov's work was complicated due to the policies of the Soviet government at the time, which did not support scientific research.Vavilov argued that plant biodiversity was crucial for long-term food security, which he believed to be a human right.He was imprisoned until his death for his ideas.His precious and heroic work inspired later research and the birth of many of today's germplasm banks.

HOW DO GERMPLASM BANKS WORK?
Conservation of plants can take place in collections, botanical gardens, and seed banks.Seed banks are buildings, usually located far from where many of the plant species exist.Seed banks can be either small sections of research centers, or buildings used only for the conservation of germplasm.
To best preserve seeds, they are placed in closed containers protected from light and humidity.Seeds must be labeled so they can be easily identified (Figure D).Then, seeds are treated with chemicals to prevent microorganisms from growing on them.Specialized workers do all these tasks, including botanists, laboratory technicians, and curators.The conditions inside seed banks are extremely important.The temperature must be maintained around   Estimating the number of seed banks worldwide is a di cult task.A recent survey states that there are over million samples belonging to ∼ , species archived in more than , seed banks worldwide, all di erent in structure, size and focus [ ]. Seed banks are generally funded by government agencies, research institutions, and conservation organizations.They are established as a service to the global community because they o er "insurance" against the pressures of the climate crisis and because they may hold our future food and nutrition security.

WHAT IS NEW IN THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY?
Managing all the samples in seed banks is challenging.One major challenge is choosing the best individuals to preserve and build collections that represent most of the total genetic variation on Earth without a lot of identical samples.for Young Minds article) tools make it possible to compare DNA sequences of many plants to identify patterns of DNA variation-kind of like a barcode that uniquely identifies each product.Indeed, DNA barcoding allows a rapid and comprehensive assessment of plant biodiversity.We have learned that variety within or between the same plant species is fundamental to ensuring humanity's food security.However, biodiversity protects against climate change, helps fight diseases, supports communities by preserving cultures and lifestyles, and produces economic benefits.All these reasons should push us to preserve biodiversity.This is a global challenge that a ects everyone, everywhere.

Figure
Figure

Figure
Figure Genetic erosion within a plant population.(A) Imagine a deck of unique cards.Removing some cards from the deck reduces the diversity in the remaining cards.(B)Similarly, the natural tomato population contains many varieties, but if farmers decide to grow or breed only a few types, the overall biodiversity of the tomato population will be reduced.

Figure
Figure

Figure
Figure Plant germplasm kept at the Mediterranean Germplasm Database.(A) Kernels of various cereal grains.(B) Ears of several types of wheat.(C) Seeds of legumes.(D) Seeds are cataloged and stored on shelves placed in a controlled environment.
in very cold freezers (− • C) or in liquid nitrogen (−• C) [ ].Currently, the largest and most technologically advanced seed bank is the Svalbard Global Seed Vault, located on an island in the Arctic Ocean.This bank is a maximum-security shelter capable of surviving catastrophes such as floods, earthquakes, fires, and even nuclear explosions(Figure ).This facility was built with the support of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.It o ers , and long-term storage of seeds, and it works like a real bank.The deposited germplasm remains the exclusive property of the depositors, who can take back the deposited material at any time.

FigureFigure
Figure academic practice.No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.YOUNG REVIEWERS DOROTHY, AGE: I love all kinds of science, but especially space sciences.I love reading fantasy and science fiction especially about space travel.I want to contribute to the mission to Mars.I like playing Minecraft and Roblox with my little brother.I also love soccer, mountain biking, and taekwondo.I currently live in Temple Terrace, Florida.SIRI, AGE: My name is Siri.I am in the th grade.Some things that I doing are reading, soccer, science, computer science, cooking, and baking.I like to read novels, non-fiction, and scientific novels.I love animals and have two dogs two cats, and chickens.I love learning more about animals and plants.AUTHORS DAVIDE D'ANGELO Davide D'Angelo has a master's in agro-environmental and food biotechnology.He currently works in bioinformatics, focusing on population genomics studies applied to plant species of agricultural interest.*davide.dangelo@unina.itOLGA CANNAVACCIUOLO Olga Cannavacciuolo graduated in agro-environmental and food biotechnology.She is currently a research fellow and works on the interaction between parasitic plants of the genus Phelipanche and tomatoes.FRANCESCA TARANTO Francesca Taranto is a permanent researcher at the Institute of Bioscience and BioResources of the Italian National Research Council in Bari, where the Mediterranean Germplasm Database is stored-a seed bank for agro-food plant germplasm collections.Her main research interest is genetics and breeding of Mediterranean crop species (wheat, olives, and legumes).NUNZIO D'AGOSTINO Nunzio D'Agostino is an associate professor of bioinformatics and genomics at the Department of Agricultural Sciences, University of Naples Federico II.His main research interest is bioinformatics applied to the investigation of plant genomes and the genetic improvement of plant species.His research focuses on the analysis of next-generation sequencing data and on developing strategies, methods, and tools for managing "omics" data.*nunzio.dagostino@unina.it • C to keep plant materials from breaking down.For long-term conservation, cryopreservation can be used, which means keeping the germplasm Luckily, a fairly new laboratory technique called next-generation sequencing technologies (you can read more about it in this Frontiers for Young Minds article) and the use of bioinformatics (you can read more about it in this Frontiers