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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Wooster, Ohio » Application Technology Research » Research » Research Project #432849

Research Project: Germplasm Resources for the Floriculture and Nursery Industry at the Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center

Location: Application Technology Research

Project Number: 5082-21000-001-003-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement

Start Date: May 13, 2018
End Date: May 12, 2023

Objective:
1) Acquire, preserve, characterize and distribute germplasm of herbaceous ornamental plants for the benefit of the Floriculture and Nursery Industry. 2) Focus on management and appropriate expansion of germplasm collection of the priority genera: Begonia, Coreopsis, Lilium, Phlox, Rudbeckia and Viola. Special emphasis will be placed on acquiring, characterizing and making available for distribution accessions of the native species of Coreopsis, Phlox and Rudbeckia. 3) Characterize the germplasm for important ornamental and adaptive traits such as habit, duration of flowering, disease resistance, and ease of production. In addition, expand basic botanical knowledge of the accessions by assessment of ploidy and genotyping. 4) Develop appropriate in-vitro protocols for preservation of clonal germplasm in the collection. 5) Explore the interspecific compatibility among species of the priority genera to expand the potential for novel traits or combinations that enhance the use and value of ornamental plants. 6) Expand the use of herbaceous germplasm by breeders and scientists through constant promotion of the resources to stakeholders.

Approach:
This agreement permits the OPGC to continue providing the Floriculture and Nursery industry with needed germplasm and will allow us to explore the use of the genetic diversity in the collections for the development of enhanced breeding lines of potential value to the industry. The germplasm enhancement work will focus on defining the interspecific compatibilities among members of the priority genera to identify opportunities for incorporation of desirable traits into new floriculture/nursery crops. Both parties are actively engaged in independent original research that will identify new approaches to the technologies and protocols for conserving seed and clonally-propagated germplasm and associated information that serve as the foundation for crop improvement and development. Both parties agree that meeting the objectives of this project will strengthen and enhance ongoing research and lie within the scope of this agreement.