Vavilov Institute (VIR): historical aspects of international cooperation for plant genetic resources
- PDF / 2,008,661 Bytes
- 17 Pages / 547.087 x 737.008 pts Page_size
- 54 Downloads / 184 Views
(0123456789().,-volV) ( 01234567 89().,-volV)
RESEARCH ARTICLE
Vavilov Institute (VIR): historical aspects of international cooperation for plant genetic resources Igor G. Loskutov
Received: 31 January 2020 / Accepted: 8 July 2020 Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract The year 2019 marked the 125th anniversaries of the foundation of the N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR). It was a long way from the Bureau of Applied Botany to VIR, the worldfamous institution for the systematic collection, comprehensive study, secure conservation and sustainable use of plant genetic resources. The initiator of most research areas of VIR was the prominent botanist, geneticist and breeder N.I. Vavilov. A main feature of this institution has always been extensive cooperation with global, regional and international organizations, various research institutes and universities in many countries of the whole world. Although such cooperation has occurred in political circumstances that have seen drastic changes, and is now stretching over three centuries, the main objectives are the same and food security has always been the underling major motivation. The international activities that were started in plant genetic resources cooperation in Eastern Europe in the 1960s have often been overlooked in the widely accessible publications in English language. After the
Dedicated to the 125th anniversary of the foundation of the institute. I. G. Loskutov (&) N.I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Genetic Resources (VIR), St. Petersburg, Russia e-mail: [email protected] I. G. Loskutov St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, Russia
1990s, the sphere of plant genetic resources became very political; this may be another reason why achievements that are due the major inspirations that came from N.I. Vavilov and impacted mostly the eastern European countries are sometimes overlooked. The purpose of the review is to give an account of some of these achievements, because several of the conceptual approaches remain valid for today and for the future. Keywords N.I. Vavilov VIR History Plant genetic resources International cooperation Exploration
Beginning of activity and collections In 1894 the Bureau of Applied Botany was established as an institution dealing with collecting and studying the diversity of cultivated plants of the Russian Empire. These activities were initiated and guided by A.F. Batalin and I.P. Borodin, the first heads of the Bureau. Since the employment in 1900 of R.E. Regel, an expert in botany, and especially since 1905 when he became the head of the Bureau, significant changes have taken place in the Bureau’s work. Robert E. Regel descended from a German family that had moved to Russia in the middle of the nineteenth century. In 1888 he graduated from the
123
Genet Resour Crop Evol
St. Petersburg University with a Bachelor of Science degree and was sent to Germany in order to continue his education at the Higher School of Horticulture in Potsdam where he attended special courses in botany by A
Data Loading...
