Genebank Genomics for Adapting Crops to Climate Change

Plant diversity is preserved in genebanks around the world, usually ex situ, creating a large reservoir of plant genetic resources. As we face global challenges such as climate change, plant productivity is threatened by various abiotic and biotic stresses. Genebank collections could afford solutions to global challenges such as climate change and biotic stresses, and enhance nutritional value in crops. Rapid advancements in sequencing technologies and remarkable improvements in generating high-quality reference genomes and cost-effective high-throughput genotyping platforms paved the way to convert the genebanks into digital form or so-called “bio-digital resource centers.” These digital platforms further enable efficient conservation, characterization and utilization of plant genetic resources. This chapter discusses the genomics-driven systematic approaches for the exploitation of genetic resources of genebanks to mobilize valuable diversity and promising genotypes for modern breeding in the face of changing circumstances.