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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Miami, Florida » Subtropical Horticulture Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #411606
Research Project: Conservation, Management, Characterization, and Distribution of Subtropical and Tropical Ornamental Genetic Resources

Location: Subtropical Horticulture Research

Title: Subtropical and tropical ornamental plants: management, characterization, and genetic Improvement

Author
item Nageswara Rao, Madhugiri
item Tabanca, Nurhayat
item KHODDAMZADEH, AMIR - Florida International University
item Cloonan, Kevin
item Yang, Xiangbing
item Ali, Gul
item Gutierrez, Osman
item Singh, Sukhwinder

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/18/2024
Publication Date: 1/19/2025
Citation: Nageswara Rao, M., Tabanca, N., Khoddamzadeh, A.A., Cloonan, K.R., Yang, X., Ali, G.S., Gutierrez, O.A., Singh, S. 2025. Subtropical and tropical ornamental plants: management, characterization, and genetic Improvement. Abstract. Agri Vision 2024.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: The growing human population and the demand for quality food have presented significant challenges to the agricultural industry. Climate change, plant vulnerability to diseases and insects, as well as crop monoculture are also major factors affecting the future of agriculture. In this regard, genebanks and germplasm repositories have become vital in conserving and adapting crops making them available to farmers. They provide a unique source of genetic diversity needed to develop improved plant cultivars that can increase yield, medicinal and nutraceutical properties, and genetic characteristics that help combat biotic and abiotic stresses. Under the USDA-ARS National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), the Subtropical Horticulture Research Station (SHRS) in Miami, Florida significantly conserves >2500 ornamental plant germplasm accessions. These germplasms are meticulously managed and are efficiently labeled with durable QR-coded UV-resistant metal tags. The QR-coded metal tags are compatible with passport information in the NPGS-GRIN global network. Over the last five years > 2000 germplasm requests have been met to stakeholders. The taxonomic diversity of ornamentals represents >100 family member plant species representing crop-wild relatives, trait-selective landraces, and native, threatened, rare, endangered, and endemic plant species. For priority ornamental plants, and less genetically studied taxa, over 537 million paired transcriptome nucleotide reads for Amaryllidaceae plants were successfully generated. Key metabolic enzymes and their isoforms (eg., chalcone isomerase, chalcone synthase, flavanone hydroxylase, phenylalanine ammonia-lyase, etc.) in the anthocyanin biosynthesis pathway for white and purple-colored Amaryllidaceae flowering plants were identified. The fragrant white-colored Amaryllidaceae flower shared 88% (Z)-ß-ocimene metabolite concentration compared to 48% in the non-fragrant purple-colored Amaryllidaceae flower. Research opportunities and challenges of ornamental plant germplasm repositories in crop maintenance, improvement, production, and protection to meet USDA-NPGS systems are discussed in the study.