Location: Tropical Crops and Germplasm Research
Project Number: 6090-21000-051-00
Start Date: Apr 11, 2013
End Date: Apr 10, 2018
Plant genetic resources will be efficiently and effectively conserved, backed-up, regenerated, evaluated, and distributed free of diseases. This will be carried out by implementing latest technologies available for field, lab, and greenhouse plant labeling, by maintaining on and off-site backups of critically important germplasm, by field evaluating for important horticultural traits and by indexing/eliminating plant diseases in stock to be distributed. All information associated with plant genetic resources including passport, characterization, and evaluation data will be incorporated into the publicly available GRIN database. The development of molecular marker tools for systematic characterization of the site's plant germplasm is a collaborative effort with other USDA-ARS laboratories. Marker tools developed in collaboration will aid in the identification of redundancies, discrepancies, and genetic gaps in the collections. In addition, the marker work will complement morphological characterization and stakeholder community input in the development of guidelines to follow for prioritization of future plant introductions.