Registry of Biodiversity Institutions, Collections and Databases: Collection

The Plant DNA Biobank of the University of Salamanca (SALA-DNA) is a technological platform used for supporting research, and is associated with the Herbarium and the National DNA Bank. This Biobank collects, processes and stores samples offered to the scientific community to facilitate, promote and develop genomic research, mainly on wild plants, but also on some cultivar varieties. The DNA Biobank holds ca. 5,000 samples with a special representation of taxa belonging to the Families Orobanchaceae, Plantaginaceae, Scrophulariaceae y Asteraceae [sensu APG IV (2016) An update of the Angiosperm Phylogeny Group classification for the orders and families of flowering plants: APG IV. Bot. Journ. Linn. Soc. 181 (1): 1-20]. We can also provide DNA extractions from the sheets lodged at the Herbarium SALA (only if the plant material is abundant and well preserved). Associated information is also available (geographic data, information regarding the collectors, etc.) to be used for developing projects shown to be of scientific, social and/or environmental high quality, conforming to strict ethical standards. Additionally, the Herbarium and the DNA Biobank provide additional services (please visit https://nucleus.usal.es/en/herbarium/services). The current collection covers mainly representative genera of the previously mentioned plant families, among them Veronica L., Odontites Ludw., Filago L. and Inula L.. We can also provide DNA extractions from the sheets lodged at the Herbarium SALA (only if the plant material is abundant and well preserved), which significantly widens the taxonomic and geographic coverages. Most of the currently available samples have been obtained from plant materials collected in Spain, but the collection lodges also samples from other European countries (mainly from the Balkans) and North Africa. See also under “Taxonomic coverage”.