What is a DNA and genome bank of Texas plant species?
Biodiversity is our natural heritage, and conserving and documenting plant and fungal diversity is at the core of BRIT’s mission. As home to the Global Genome Initiative for Gardens (GGI-Gardens), BRIT has developed a biorepository – sort of a DNA bank – that stores and preserves the genomic heritage of plant species. Utilizing a network of botanical gardens in Texas, we preserve DNA from the diversity of plants throughout Texas. In a world where much biodiversity is threatened by extinction, BRIT’s DNA Bank – here in our molecular and structural laboratory – allows us to preserve the genomes of plants and document diversity before it may be lost.
This lab can also generate DNA data that documents the genetic variation of rare and endangered plants in Texas to better understand how populations are being affected by human interventions such as climate change and forest fragmentation. This information helps conservation managers make decisions on which populations of the species to prioritize for protection.