The explosion of wheat genomic data over the last five years is expected to be dwarfed by data generation over the next five as the cost of assaying the genome continues to fall. Already costs permit the large-scale genotyping of entire genebanks and breeding programs to the generation of multiple pan-genomes. This has allowed genebanks to transition from physical seedbanks to data generators within the broader context of genomic data generation in research and breeding activities.

The Australian Grains Genebank (AGG) Strategic Partnership is a $30M joint investment between the Victorian Government and Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) that aims to unlock the genetic potential of plant genetic resources for the benefit of Australian grain growers. The Partnership is transforming the AGG into a bio-digital resource centre through the genetic characterisation of its collection and implementation of digital and genomic tools to make the new resources highly accessible to researchers and breeders.

This talk will describe work underway to transform the AGG into a genebank for the future. It will detail how genotypic data from its collection is being made accessible through the development of industry-informed use cases; the development of digital tools and interfaces to provide routes to access for users of the AGG; the building of interoperable data infrastructure to support genebank-to-genebank data integration; and how the genebank’s accessions are being connected to research and breeding knowledge to empower researchers and breeders to deliver the varieties of tomorrow.