Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 17, 2004
Publication Date: October 20, 2004
Citation: Leopold, R.A. Establishing a national insect germplasm storage program for the U.S.A.. Meeting Abstract. Leopold, R.A. 2004. Cryopreservation of dipteran insects: development and evaluation. Meeting Abstract.October 18-23, 2004. St. Petersburg, Russia. In: Materials of the International Conference "Preservation of Genetic Resources" 46(9):760. Technical Abstract: Ideally, the establishment of national program for storage of insect germplasm would initially involve a multi-faceted approach which would implement a survey of the genetic resources, an identification of the potential users, a description of the scope of a potential program, and the acquisition of one or more sponsoring organizations. Once these areas have been addressed, the problem of acquiring funding, constructing or obtaining repositories, and identifying qualified individuals to coordinate and operate a germplasm storage program becomes a much easier task. In the U.S.A., the need for such a system was recognized as early as 1986 when the National Research Council undertook a major review of the conservation of animal genetic resources which was followed by an authorization by the U.S. Congress to form a national genetic resources program in 1990. However, while the need for a national germplasm storage program for all life forms was apparent, the requisite storage technology for insects was not available. Until recently, routine long-term liquid nitrogen storage of insect germplasm has been limited to cell cultures and the semen of few insects. Protocols have now been developed for cryopreservation of embryos of several genetically important insect species including Drosophila melanogaster, Cochliomyia hominivorax, and Ceratitis capitata (Mazur et al.,1992; Leopold et al., 2001; Rajamohan et al., 2003). With the advent of this technology, a comprehensive program for insect germplasm storage has been initiated. The program is to be patterned after the national plant germplasm system (NPGS) and the database for insect germplasm will be included as part of the germplasm information resources network (GRIN). Like the NPGS, it is envisioned that the insect program will be a cooperative effort by public (State and Federal) and private organizations working together to preserve the genetic diversity of insects. Thus, this presentation outlines the process and summarizes the progress made on the development of a national insect storage program. References Leopold, R.A., Wang, W.B., Berkebile, D.R., Freeman, T.P. (2001) Cryopreservation of embryos of the New World Screwworm Cochliomyia hominivorax (Diptera: Callophoridae). Ann. Entomol. Soc. Amer. 94: 695-70. Mazur, P., Cole, K.W., Hall, J.W., Schreuders, P.D., Mahowald, A.P. (1992) Cryobiological preservation of Drosophila embryos. Science. 258: 1932-1935. Rajamohan, A., Leopold, R.A., Wang, W.B., Harris, M., McCombs, S.D., Peabody, N.C., Fisher, K. (2003) Cryopreservation of Mediterranean fruit fly embryos. Cryo-Letters. 24: 125-132.