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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » National Germplasm Resources Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #302788

Title: The GRIN-Taxonomy crop wild relative inventory

Author
item Wiersema, John
item LEON, BLANCA - University Of Texas

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/2/2014
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: In order to provide an informational tool for assessing and prioritizing germplasm needs for ex situ conservation in the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), the USDA Agricultural Research Service in 2008 initiated a project to identify wild relatives (CWR) of major and minor crops. Each crop's CWR were evaluated from a thorough review of the taxonomic and crop science literature, integrating taxonomic, phylogenetic, ploidy, reproductive biology, artificial and natural hybridization, and other data to determine their potential for hybridization with that crop. The degree of genetic relatedness of the CWR to a crop was thereby partitioned into three categories approximating the primary, secondary, and tertiary gene pools. A fourth category, for CWR used as rootstocks or in the breeding of rootstocks for grafting scions of a crop, was also recorded. We have now completed initial work on over 120 crops in 70 genera, documented the basis for our decisions, solicited crop specialist reviews, integrated the data into GRIN Taxonomy, and developed a public interface to query the resulting information in relation to other GRIN taxonomic and distributional data. Integration and consolidation of these data with those of the Harlan and de Wet Crop Wild Relative Inventory (http://www.cwrdiversity.org/checklist/) is planned. Both external reviews of existing CWR classification data and contributions of data on other crops are welcomed.