AgroBRC RARe is a national research infrastructure that brings together five BRC networks

Biological Resource Centers (BRCs) conserve genetic, genomic and biological resources assembled and characterized by research on domesticated animals, model or cultivated plants, wild species related to domesticated species, microorganisms of agronomic or agri-food interest, and environmental microorganisms and organisms.

Their missions are  to collect, manage, characterize, preserve, enrich, distribute and make available biological samples. To this end, CRB centers and biobanks implement quality assurance procedures, techniques and databases.

Today, 40 RARe member CRBs in France and overseas store millions of biological and genomic resources (BAC libraries, tissue and DNA banks):

• Banks of 35 species or species families as seeds, seedlings or whole plants (>230,000 accessions),
• Banks of 25 animal species as blood, DNA, tissues, gametes, cells (>250,000 samples),
• 40,000 strains of bacteria, yeasts or filamentous fungi
• 2260 soil sample sites hosting microbial consortia, 200 strains of parasitoid insects, fish scale samples (>45,000).

All agricultural sectors are involved: plant and animal production, agri-food industries, non-food biomass valorization, clean tech biotechnology.

At the heart of the major research challenges of the future

The challenge is to enable agriculture and livestock farming to adapt to future conditions, and to meet new challenges for future generations. BRCs are at the heart of numerous research programs designed to explore living organisms and ecosystems, and to enhance biodiversity for agriculture and industry, food, the environment and health.