The Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute is the largest Polish research centre in the multi-disciplinary area of crop improvement, biotechnology, germplasm conservation and enhancement. Established in 1951, the Institute was soon recognized as a leading research centre for crop improvement not only in Central Europe, but also on a global scale. Research achievements of IHAR, reflected in frequently cited papers published in international journals highly respected for scientific merit, resulted in wide contacts with the international community of researchers and plant breeders in both Europe and North America. Professors, as well as younger researchers from IHAR, have frequently visited leading universities in Western Europe, the US and Canada. From these visits, they have brought home the knowledge of recent trends and methods in crop improvement. The high quality of IHAR staff brought to the Institute a number of Ph.D. students and young researchers from Poland and abroad, and resulted in extensive collaboration in the field of plant breeding and seed production technologies. Thanks to the latter, the Institute became also a leading educational centre at the advanced level in numerous research fields related to crop improvement, biotechnology, germplasm conservation and enhancement.
Training possibility
The Scientific Council of IHAR and the Director of the Institute defined three strategic complementary directions of PBAI development:
- basic research,
- applied research,
- education, training and extension.
These three complementary directions are closely integrated. Training young scientists, participating in research projects and applied science projects as the transfer of new technologies is not possible without basic research results. An important role in implementation of this plan was given to networking activities. In accordance with these priorities, there is an opportunity for Polish and foreign students to take a part-time or a full-time program of their studies on M.Sc. and Ph.D. levels in the Institute. Training for breeders, extension service specialists and seed inspectors is carried out in the Centre.
Research activity covers three major fields:
- the development, enhancement and utilization of plant germplasm in breeding field crops,
- seed science and seed production,
- collection and preservation of plant germplasm resources for breeding and research programmes.
Research agenda is focused on:
- identification of genetic sources of the important agronomic characters,
- studies on their genetic control and utilization methods,
- research on the mechanisms controlling crop resistance to diseases, pests and environmental stresses,
- application of biotechnological methods in plant breeding and gene transformation.
Facilities:
Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute (IHAR) facilities include Eppendorf, Selecta, Sigma, Fritsch and Nicon equipment (centrifuges, thermomixers, thermocyclers, incubators, sets to electrophoresis, balances, Annalizette Pro to counting of fungus sporangia, thermostats, epifluorescent microscopes, deepfreezers, liophilizator, benches) and using reagents of Difco, Sigma, Fermentas and some Polish companies. Laboratory equipment includes work benches, laminar flow hoods (for sterile transfers), fume hood (for handling hazardous chemicals and reagents), 4º C refrigerators, -20º C freezers, incubators, autoclaves (capacity 400 l), sinks water baths and gas connections, Millipore water purification system. Major equipment include: one ABI 377 DNA sequencer (and access to the another one), two Biometra Thermal Cyclers, high-speed centrifuge, gel electrophoresis boxes and power supplies, microcentrifuges, electronic balances, shakers, microwave, vortexes, microscope Nikon Eclipse 600 attached with camera. IHAR has approximately 80 hectares of own farm land for experiments.
The Centre has bilateral agreements with 10 foreign scientific institutions from European countries and cooperates with several ones on a smaller scale. Moreover, the Institute is bound by cooperation agreements with research centres in Europe, the USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, Egypt, Mexico, Peru and other countries, as well as with 17 international research organizations. The Centre widely cooperates with plant breeding companies - providing know-how in many aspects of plant breeding and seed production. Additionally, the Centre provides a wide range of expertise and arbitrage when it is necessary. The Institute owns numerous cultivars of different crops grown in Poland. On average, these cultivars share 48% of the certified seed market. IHAR is the editor of 6 scientific journals (2 in English), numerous leaflets and brochures.
