Guelder Rose berries appear in late autumn with each berry containing one seed. Image: Eoin Murphy
Scientists look to plant seeds from the past to find answers for the future of biodiversity and food security, writes Eoin Murphy.
In 2023, Ireland experienced the hottest June, followed by the wettest July on record. For seeds, which create all plant life, extreme weather events can play a crucial role in their lifecycle.
With the global loss of biodiversity leading to a rapid decline of plant species and estimates that up to 75pc of genetic diversity in crops has disappeared over the past century, groups around the world have been taking steps to store and protect seeds.
Banking seeds for the future
Since the establishment of the first seed bank in St Petersburg in 1894, and the subsequent work of Nikolai Vavilov, the number of these institutions has grown to about 1,700 globally.
One group in Ireland working to protect the genetic diversity of our native plants, as well as our food crop heritage, is Irish Seed Savers.
In an effort to reach like-minded people, the group’s founder Anita Hayes, contacted the late Michael Viney of The Irish Times and asked him if he would publish a letter on heritage crops. From that point on Hayes says, “one door opened and another door opened”, ultimately leading to the creation of Irish Seed Savers in 1991.
Flax seeds drying at Irish Seed Saver’s seed bank solarium. Image: Eoin Murphy
Now based in Scarriff, Co Clare, Irish Seed Savers maintains the national collection of Irish heritage apple trees with more 180 different varieties present, as well as the country’s only public seed bank, storing more than 600 non-commercially available varieties of seed.
Despite the growth of the organisation, the overall goal has not changed. Deirdre Morrissey, Seed Bank manager, says, “the mission is to collect, to preserve and then to educate and share”.
According to Morrissey, “what has changed in recent times is there is more science involved”. The focus has shifted from purely conservation to “fine-tuning the temperature that seeds are dried at” or “DNA testing” heritage apples from the orchard.
Supporting biodiversity
Since Brexit, there have been major changes to how seeds can be imported from the UK to Ireland. Jason Horner, coordinator of the Gaia Seed Sovereignty Programme in Ireland, believes that this change in policy has focused many people’s minds on the importance of food security and food sovereignty. Horner says, “the best way of doing that is growing our own seeds”.
Another important factor in maintaining biodiversity is the presence of native tree species. Jeremy Turkington, seed collector and seed bank coordinator at Hometree, spent the summer and early autumn scouring the western seaboard in search of native tree species such as Downy Birch, Guelder Rose and Rowan.
Jeremy Turkington discusses seed collection at Hometree. Image: Eoin Murphy
Turkington says these seeds will act as a “living genetic bank”, adding, “it’s not just about collecting seeds, it’s about using them to reforest and support biodiversity”.
One of Hometree’s long-term projects is The Wild Atlantic Rainforest Restoration Project, which Turkington says is aimed at preserving “the native trees which are adapted to the temperate oceanic climatic conditions”.
While Ireland is home to 28 different native tree species, it is estimated that there are up to 1,200 native plant species on the island. Of these more than 100 are red-listed by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature. This means they are at risk of extinction.
The Irish Threatened Plant Seedbank, housed at Trinity College Botanic Garden, is aiming to collect and store representative samples of the genetic variation across these threatened plant species.
Dr Stephen Waldren, curator of the garden, says that in the past 30 years “things have changed dramatically”. He cites the example of Cottonweed (Achillea maritima), a plant formerly found at 30 coastal sites across Ireland and Britain, but now is only found at one site in Wexford. Waldren says the “population has crashed” with only 14 remaining plants found on a recent research trip.
In 2019, a National Seed Bank was established in the National Botanical Gardens. Dr Colin Kelleher, taxonomist and keeper of the Herbarium in Glasnevin says, “we are collecting from all species in Ireland”.
“Whatever is out there, we are going to get a representative genetic sample”.
To date, the National Seed Bank has collected seeds from 92 different unique species, approximately 7 to 8pc of all the wild plant species.
Mindful of the impact of climate change, Kelleher is still confident they can complete the collection, saying, “within the range of climate predictions, we should have captured the genetic diversity”.
Internationally, Ireland has previously made two deposits to the Global Seed Vault in Svalbard. The vault located on the Arctic Archipelago acts as a backup facility for seed banks all over the world. While these seeds may be secure, continued research is essential in a changing climate.
Budding research
Teagasc, the Agricultural and Food Development Authority, played an integral role in the seeds selected for the first Svalbard deposit in 2009. Scientists based at their headquarters in Oak Park, Co Carlow, have been using seeds in their collection and further afield to investigate how extreme weather conditions can affect crop growth.
The Global Seed Vault is built into the permafrost on the side of a mountain outside Longyearbyen. Image: Eoin Murphy
Dr Susanne Barth, crop science researcher at Teagasc, says that her research “is heavily based on assessing the impact of abiotic stress on variety performance”. Some surprising results were found in a recent research project looking at how ryegrass and winter barley could survive winter flooding. Barth reported that “ryegrass coped exceptionally well with the water” but that with winter barley “there was only a small panel doing well under flooding events”.
While this research focused on crops primarily used in animal feed, Teagasc is also part of a collaborative project known as Healthy Oats with Aberystwyth University and University College Dublin (UCD). The project utilised the wide variety of oat seeds collected by UCD over the years, beginning with 190 varieties before selecting 25 for final experiments.
Dr Cathal McCabe, lecturer in the UCD School of Agriculture and Food Science, says they are trying “to look at these varieties from a different angle and see what their potential could be for added value in human nutrition”.
“We have found varieties very high in protein, the highest varieties in protein seem to be 30 to 40pc above the control varieties,” McCabe said.
Other preliminary findings suggest that some of the oat varieties may have useful characteristics in terms of disease resistance, lodging resistance and even their levels of beta-glucan – a complex carbohydrate that can lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of getting diabetes.
Another scientist focusing her research on the abiotic stresses experienced by crops is Dr Sónia Negrão, a lecturer in the UCD School of Biology and Environmental Science. Her research team hopes to identify varieties of barley used in malting whose characteristics make them more resistant to waterlogging and extreme weather events.
Negrão says that in waterlogging conditions, there is a reduction in plant height and biomass, a delay in flowering time and the yield and protein content are reduced. Any reductions in yield could have a severe impact on the malting industry in Ireland.
Heritage barley lines growing in the fields of UCD Lyons farm, Co Kildare. Image: Sónia Negrão
Using a mixture of genomic techniques and advanced imaging technologies fixed to drones, the research aims to create a greater understanding of the genetics at play in crop resistance during waterlogging events. Negrão believes that the work will demonstrate “the hidden potential for breeding” contained in different varieties of barley.
The climate crisis and extreme weather events are already creating untold challenges for native plant species across Ireland. However, by saving and securing these seeds for future generations, we are creating an invaluable resource for research.
As we look to combat these challenges in the coming decades, the genetic diversity contained within the seeds of our native plants may in time prove to be a key ally in this battle.
By Eoin Murphy
Murphy is a biochemist, educator and science communicator. He holds a master’s degree in science and health communication from Dublin City University. He divides his time between teaching, writing and producing podcasts. When he is not working, he is likely to be found climbing a mountain.
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