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The Plant Genetic Resources Centre contributes to ensuring the conservation and sustainability of plant biodiversity in the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the UAE for future generations. It aims to support environmental rehabilitation and develop scientific research. The centre is the first of its kind, combining the latest seed bank methods and advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence-based seed testing, digital herbarium, and genomic testing, in addition to cryopreservation of tissues, with a total value of AED 3.5 million.
Latest devices
The centre, established by the Environment Agency – Abu Dhabi in Al Ain, aims to ensure the preservation of seeds and tissues of all types of wild plants and important local agricultural species in the UAE. The centre includes 6 laboratories equipped with 8 of the most modern devices in the world to preserve the country’s local plants, in addition to a first station specialised in receiving samples of wild plants and seeds from outside the centre, where a number of different tests are conducted on the seeds to ensure their vitality and suitability for storage and use in propagation and cultivation operations.
6666 samples
The center also includes a laboratory for classification and scanning of wild plant samples, which aims to ensure accurate scientific classification of plants and document them in the form of dried samples, as well as electronic digital samples and include them in the authority’s database, to enable researchers locally and internationally to view these samples and use them in their research. The herbarium currently includes 6,666 samples, including 4,000 dry samples and 2,666 digital samples. These samples are collected and then dried from different regions of the country, which will be classified and archived in the form of actual samples, as well as digital samples, within a specialized database developed by the authority, to help local and international researchers view these samples to classify plants.
100 years
The center includes cooling rooms and nitrogen preservation equipment at temperatures as low as -196 degrees Celsius, ensuring that samples can be preserved for long periods of up to more than 100 years, in addition to a specialized laboratory for conducting genome sequencing of wild plants, which will play an important role in plant conservation efforts by helping specialists understand plant species, their genetic diversity, and their ability to adapt to environmental conditions. The center includes a greenhouse that represents 5 essential natural habitats in the UAE, where more than 50 local plant species that are distinctive to these environments have been planted, providing visitors with a rich educational and cultural experience. The greenhouse is also used to propagate some plant species outside the agricultural seasons.
