The activities envisaged in this project intend to confirm and/or expand the information collected for phenotypic description during the GERMAIS project and compare the level of genetic variability present in the selected seed nuclei.

 

Preliminary information

SCIENTIFIC MANAGER: Paola Migliorini

OTHER UNISG RESEARCHERS INVOLVED: Sandra Spagnolo

PARTNERSHIP: University of Turin – DISAFA (Italy), Associazione Antichi Mais (Italy)

DURATION OF THE PROJECT: 36 months (January 2025 – December 2027)

FUNDING INSTRUMENT: Sviluppo Rurale Piemonte 2023-2027. SRA 16/1/2024 Conservazione agrobiodiversità - Banche del germoplasma vegetale.

MAIN INTERDISCIPLINARY RESEARCH AREA IN UNISG: Ecology and Sustainability

SDGs:

 

Description

The GERMAIS 2 Project is part of the research activities conducted over the last twenty years on Piedmontese corn ecotypes, starting from the first "Seed Project" financed in 2006 by the Piedmont Region created with the aim of registering in the National Register as a Conservation Variety the ecotypes of corn recovered and characterized by the CRAB (Reference Center for Organic Agriculture) and the then nascent Piedmontese Ancient Corn Association. The activities of Germais 2 will be consequential to those carried out in 2023 as part of the project called GERMAIS and will allow to confirm and/or expand the information collected for the phenotypic description, furthermore the creation of on-farm cultivations of the seven varieties will allow to compare their level of genetic variability with that present in the nuclei selected in 2023. The project “GER-MAIS 2”, at a general level, aims at the restoration, maintenance and improvement of agricultural biodiversity, the sustainable management of natural resources and the maintenance and enrichment of the heritage of regional genetic resources through the conservation and reintroduction activity on the territory of traditional plant varieties. Specifically, the partnership has the following objectives:

  • characterization, evaluation and selection of the seed core to be placed for conservation in the DISAFA Bank of the three free-pollinated corn ecotypes called “Pignoletto nero”, “Ottofile nero” and “Quarantina del Canavese”;
  • in situ/on farm conservation of the seven conservation varieties called Ottofile Bianco, Ottofile Giallo, Ottofile Rosso, Pignoletto Giallo, Pignoletto Rosso, Ostenga del Canavese, Nostrano dell'Isola and the three new varieties to be registered;
  • molecular characterization by NGS approach;
  • sharing of information on cultivated biodiversity, participatory selection, capacity for resilience and adaptation to climate change, selection and management of local genetic resources;
  • genotyping and phenotyping of genetic resources, also with the aim of identifying specific adaptation characteristics to different and changed pedoclimatic conditions.

The results obtained will be presented through the organization of dissemination meetings.

 

 

Publications

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News from the project

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