Genebank Phenomics: A Strategic Approach to Enhance Value and Utilization of Crop Germplasm

Genetically diverse plant germplasm stored in ex-situ genebanks are excellent resources for breeding new high yielding and sustainable crop varieties to ensure future food security. Novel alleles have been discovered through routine genebank activities such as seed regeneration and characterization, with subsequent utilization providing significant genetic gains and improvements for the selection of favorable traits, including yield, biotic, and abiotic resistance. Although some genebanks have implemented cost-effective genotyping technologies through advances in DNA technology, the adoption of modern phenotyping is lagging. This review paper highlights current digital phenotyping methods that can capture traits during annual seed regeneration to enrich genebank phenotypic datasets. The authors also describe strategies for the collection and use of phenotypic data of specific traits for downstream research using high-throughput phenotyping technology. Finally, challenges and future perspectives of genebank phenomics are also examined.