Wildlife seed bank in SW China preserves over 10,000 plant species

A bee hovers over an edible rose in Mile, southwest China's Yunnan Province, Sept. 9, 2021. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)

KUNMING, Sept. 14 (Xinhua) -- The wildlife germplasm bank in southwest China has preserved 10,601 kinds of wild plant seeds, according to the Kunming Institute of Botany under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Founded in 2007, the seed bank affiliated to the institute includes seed pool, DNA bank, microbial bank, animal germplasm resource bank and other sectors. It is the only comprehensive preservation facility for the storage of wildlife germplasm resources in China and the largest wildlife germplasm pool in Asia.

"Wildlife germplasm resources have great application potential in the biological industry, winning global attention, especially for the collection and preservation of wild plants," said Yu Fuqiang, deputy director of the seed bank.

The bank has preserved 85,046 plant seeds of 10,601 species, accounting for 36 percent of the number of flowering plant species in China, Yu said.