Banco de germoplasma | Jardín Botánico de Castilla-La Mancha

The Germplasm Bank
of the Botanic Garden of Castilla-La Mancha

The Plant Germplasm Bank of the Botanic Garden of Castilla-La Mancha (BG-JBCLM) is a seed bank of wild flora, whose origin dates back to the beginning of 2007, within the framework of the development of the project "Creation of a germplasm bank of threatened wild flora in the JBCLM", financed by the Ministry of Education and Science of the Junta de Comunidades de Castilla-La Mancha during the period 2007-2009.

The accessions previously collected and preserved by the faculty of the Botany and Ecology Unit of the Higher Technical School of Agricultural and Forestry Engineers (University of Castilla-La Mancha, UCLM) were also incorporated into the project's holdings. In 2008, it became part of REDBAG (Spanish Network of Germplasm Banks of Wild Plants), founded in 2002 at the initiative of the Ibero-Macaronesian Association of Botanical Gardens.

During the last few years, it has been able to significantly increase the number of conserved accessions thanks to the complementary action type E, entitled “Collection and conservation of seeds of 50 taxa of Lamiaceae from the southeastern quadrant of Iberia with aromatic, medicinal or ornamental interest”, funded by the INIA during the period 2012-2014. In 2016, it joined the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) network as a biodiversity collection and, in 2020, it was included in the international network The International Plant Exchange Network (IPEN), dependent on the Botanic Gardens Conservation International (BGCI) network.

This seed bank was designed to conserve orthodox seeds (those that tolerate desiccation down to 4-5% humidity, as well as low temperatures; -10ºC in this bank) belonging to threatened flora species of Castilla-La Mancha, although over time the range of wild species collected and conserved has expanded. Within the facilities of the JBCLM (Castilla-La Mancha Botanical Garden), the BG-JBCLM is located in the Social Building of the Botanical Garden, next to the Educational Laboratory. The head of the BGV is José Mª Herranz Sanz (jose.herranz@uclm.es), Professor of Plant Production at the UCLM (University of Castilla-La Mancha). The curator of the BG-JBCLM is Alejandro Santiago (conservador@jardinbotanico-clm.com).

The objective of the Germplasm Bank of the Botanical Garden of Castilla-La Mancha is the conservation of orthodox seeds of threatened, endemic, unique or interesting wild species for use in research, exchange through the Index Seminum of the JBCLM, the maintenance of its collections of living plants or for the development of programs for the restoration of plant populations in nature.

As of January 2025, the number of conserved accessions was 1,439, comprising over one million seeds in total. Most of this genetic material was collected from the wild, although a small percentage also comes from the living collections of the JBCLM (Bogotá Botanical Garden of Castilla-La Mancha), complementing the representation of taxa that are rarely collected in their natural habitat. The wild-collected accessions belong to more than 80 families of flowering plants, comprising 761 taxa. Some illustrative figures for the conserved material are as follows: 206 accessions of 164 threatened taxa (included in the Regional Catalogue of Threatened Species of Castilla-La Mancha and/or the 2008 Red List of Spanish Vascular Flora); 201 accessions of 109 non-threatened taxa included in the Spanish Strategy for the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Forest Genetic Resources (ERGF); There are 134 accessions of 66 Iberian endemics and 51 accessions of 26 Ibero-North African endemics, neither of which are threatened nor included in the ERGF. There are also 110 accessions of 62 taxa with wide geographical distributions offered in the Index Seminum of the JBCLM. Finally, the remaining 128 accessions of material collected in the wild correspond to taxa of ornamental, aromatic, or medicinal interest, or those with genetic proximity to cultivated species, or those useful for recreating the plant communities of Castilla-La Mancha in the JBCLM.

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Proportions of the flora classified in the BG-JBCLM according to its conservation status (left) and its interest (right).

Research plays a relevant role in the functions of the BG-JBCLM, since viability and germination studies are carried out in seeds before and after the conservation process, as well as dormancy studies.

Starting from the germination of seeds from the BG-JBCLM in germination chambers or by direct sowing in substrate, and after nursery work, plants are produced for the collections of the Botanical Garden, keeping track of the origin of collection and accession code of each one of them.

Determination of viability using the cut test method. A viable seed (a) and a non-viable seed (b) can be observed, where the embryo is indicated in blue.

Another relevant aspect is that the material conserved in the BG-JBCLM has been used to reinforce populations of threatened species in their natural habitats in the Castile-La Mancha region (Coincya rupestris subsp. rupestris, Delphinium fissum subsp. sordidum, Nepeta hispanica, Helianthemum guerrae, H. polygonoides , Sideritis chamaedryfolia, S. serrata, Senecio auricula, Sisymbrium cavanillesianum , and Vella pseudocytisus subsp. pseudocytisus) . Furthermore, within the plant collections of the JBCLM, in the area dedicated to regional ecosystems, the natural habitats of some of these species (Helianthemum guerrae, Sideritis chamaedryfolia, Sideritis serrata, and Vella pseudocytisus subsp. pseudocytisus) have been recreated using seeds from the BG-JBCLM.

The Botanical Garden of Castilla-La Mancha, through its Germplasm Bank, is part of:

-REDBAG (Spanish Network of Germplasm Banks of Wild Plants and Native Phytoresources);
-GENMEDA (Network of Mediterranean Plant Conservation Centers);
-It is the reference bank for the conservation of genetic resources for the Regional Government of Castilla-La Mancha;
-It is affiliated with the Network of Forest and Wild Flora Germplasm Bank, coordinated by the General Directorate of Biodiversity,
Forests and Desertification of the Ministry for Ecological Transition and Demographic Challenge of Spain, as a central node.

More information: 15 years of the Germplasm Bank of the Botanic Garden of Castilla-La Mancha. A unique effort for the ex situ conservation of wild flora from the continental Mediterranean area. [download link]

Organisational chart of the Germplasm Bank of the Botanic Garden of Castilla-La Mancha