Ex-situ conservation of wheat genetic resources from Saudi Arabia

Wheat (Triticum L.) is one of the major food crops of the world, and an important component of food security. The aim of this study was to collect and preserve seeds of wheat growing in eight regions of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (Al-Qassim, Asir, Al-Taif, Najran, AL-Baha, Jazan, Al-Madinah and Wadi Al-Dawasir) where wheat has been cultivated since ancient times. Sixty-one accessions/samples of wheat (Triticum aestivum) were collected and placed in dry storage (ex-situ conservation) at −18 °C (i.e. permanent storage). The accessions of local wheat have the ability to grow under harsh environmental conditions such as (high temperature, drought and salinity). Most of these samples were collected directly from farms, but a few were collected from markets. The most important criteria for ex-situ conservation is that seeds need to have a low moisture content (MC) and a high percentage viability. Seed MC was measured for all 61 accessions by the oven-drying method and seed viability was tested in three ways: percentage of germination, tetrazolium chloride testing, and X-ray radiography.

The seed MC of the 61 accessions was uniformly very low (0.10–0.12%), and 97 to 100% of the seeds were viable. Thus, all 61 wheat accessions collected in this study have the initial requirements to remain viable for long periods of time in ex-situ conservation in the gene seed bank.

Conservation of genetic resources for five traditional crops from Jazan, SW Saudi Arabia, at the KACST Gene-Bank

The conservation of five traditional crops is an important aspect of achieving national food security. In the present study, we aimed to collect and conserve germplasm of five local crops from the Jazan region of southwestern Saudi Arabia: Sorghum: Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench); Barley (Hordeum vulgare L.) Millet (Pennisetum glaucum (L.) R. Br.); Sesame (Sesamum indicum L.) and Guar (Cyamopsis tetragonoloba (L.) Taub). Forty-one seed accessions of these five crops were collected and tested to determine seed moisture content (MC%) and quality as indicators of their potential to survive during long-term dry storage at −18 °C (i.e. ex-situ conservation of genetic resources). Seed viability was assessed using germination tests, the tetrazolium chloride (TZ) test and X-ray imaging. Seeds of the five crops had very low MC% and high viability (fully developed embryos and germination >91%), indicating that they were of good quality and had high potential for long-term survival in gene banks. The genetic resources of these crops (seeds) have now been preserved at the gene-bank of King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology (KACST-BGB), Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.