Briefly INTERNATIONAL Crop wild relatives poorly represented in seed banks The wild relatives of domesticated crop plants are poorly represented in seed banks and plant repositories established to protect biodiversity, according to a study of the global distribution of , taxa related to  crops. The genetic diversity of these relatives could be used to increase crop yields or develop more nutritious and resilient crop varieties. Of the , relatives studied, only  were adequately

more »

... ented in seed banks. The most critical gaps in seed collection are in the Mediterranean and the Near East, western and southern Europe, South-east and East Asia and South America. The researchers involved are calling for a systematic effort to improve the conservation of crop wild relatives, and their availability for use in plant breeding, and highlight cassava, potato and sorghum as being among the highestpriority crops. Source: Nature Plants () dx.doi.org/ ./nplants..