Author
Widrlechner, Mark |
Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Other Publication Acceptance Date: 6/27/2004 Publication Date: 3/1/2005 Citation: Widrlechner, M.P. 2005. Germplasm acquisition from conception to products. (Introduction to Workshop Proceddings). HortScience. 40:2096 Interpretive Summary: Technical Abstract: This paper serves as a brief introduction to the proceedings of a workshop entitled, 'Germplasm Acquisition from Conception to Products,' which was held at Centennial Conference of the American Society for Horticultural Science in Providence, Rhode Island on 3 October 2003. The workshop comprised four presentations and ensuing discussion. Papers summarizing the four presentations are included in the proceedings. The introductory paper, by Karen Williams, presents an insider's perspective on the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System's efforts to support plant exchange and exploration. The next paper, by Michael Dosmann and Peter Del Tredici, examines the results of the first cooperative plant exploration between Chinese and American scientists conducted in China after the re-establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries in the 1970s. The final two papers focus on the connections between the exploration process and the products of those efforts, from the personal perspectives of two experienced plant explorers, Amy Iezzoni and Philipp Simon. Iezzoni's report describes a career-long quest to introduce a diverse array of sour cherry germplasm and then proceeds to document many of the valuable results. Simon's report centers on a single exploration for Allium from Central Asia in 1989 and the exciting prospects of transforming garlic from an exclusively vegetative species to one where sexual hybridization may become routine. |