Project Number: 5402-21000-006-03
Project Type: Specific Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: Jun 01, 2001
End Date: May 31, 2006

Objective:
(A) Update & maintain inventory of Latin American (L.A.) landrace collections of maize, identifying low viabilities & quantities so that those may be regenerated; (B) Update passport, characterization & eval. data developed in the program; (C) Regenerate about 1000 additional endangered L.A. collections from national genebanks, CIMMYT & the National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation (NCGRP); send backup seed to NCGRP; maintain collaboration with & finance cooperating national genebanks; develop maize core subset of L.A. maize collections.

Approach:
Cooperator agrees to work closely with ARS (NCGRP & Ames PI station) in planning and conducting research. Selected samples will be grown at CIMMYT or national research stations to regenerate stored or new samples at risk of loss. Evaluation & characterization data will be taken, entered into GRIN & CIMMYT databases. For new samples, passport data including geographic coordinates of the origin of the samples will be submitted to NCGRP for entry into GRIN. Seed will be sent to NCGRP for security backup & to Ames PI station when it is determined it should enter the active U.S. collection. Most samples are linked to the Latin American Maize Project (LAMP). Seed quality must conform to minimum NCGRP & international standards. Maize core subset development will continue with an effort to maximize genetic diversity within each climatic group as established in the LAMP. In the case of specifically adapted maize, cooperator will support sampling & conservation of samples in-situ in the country of origin to facilitate their ex-situ conservation. There are no patent implications of this SCA.