This unit houses a number of internationally recognised reference- and working-collections for wheat, oats, barley and peas,[1] which serves UK and non-UK based academic, industrial and non-industrial groups.
[2] This centralisation effort was supported by the John Innes Institute, and was designed to act as an open collection that would provide access to important resources for ongoing research and breeding.
The connection of the unit and the JIC has the advantage of placing germplasm material on sites of active research where a higher level of interaction with the scientific community is possible.
This two-way interaction ensures that scientists and students are exposed to, and have greater opportunities to view and discuss genetic variability, while affording staff involvement in research objectives and priorities within both basic and strategic applied science.
The collection was produced alongside public sector breeding programmes, and has the potential to be a source of important traits regarding disease, pest and stress resistance.