Visiting Scholar to Work on Eradicating Pathogens from Small Fruit Germplasm

Ae Rin Jeon joined the Plant Disease Research Unit (PDRU) as an International Visiting Research Scholar on April 17, 2008, coming to us from the Republic of Korea.

Ae Rin received both her Bachelors (Feb 2005) and Masters degrees (Aug 2007) from Dankook University in the Department of Bioresources Science. Her Masters thesis was entitled, “Development of Carrot (Daucus carota L.) vaccine expressing Salmonella choleraesuis FljB”. Ae Rin’s expertise in tissue culture techniques will be an asset to the PDRU where she will undertake a project to develop an in vitro protocol to eradicate quarantine pathogens from small fruit germplasm (Ribes and Rubus spp.).

Two Year Long Visiting Scholars to the Plant Diseases Research Unit 

Dr. Liming Lin, who is on the faculty of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University in Fuzhou, China, will be working with us on quarantine viruses and viroids.

Donglin Xu will be working with us on viruses of sugarcane.

Both scientists began in February, 2008.

International Partnership to Develop a Global Plant Genebank Information System

The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) and Bioversity International are partnering with the Global Crop Diversity Trust to develop a powerful but easy-to-use, Internet-based information management system for the world's plant genebanks.

The nucleus of the system will be ARS's existing Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN), a database that already houses information about the more than 480,000 accessions (distinct varieties of plants) in ARS’s National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). In addition to serving as the information backbone of the NPGS, GRIN has been adopted by Canada’s national genebank system as their information management system. ARS has a long-term commitment to maintaining and enhancing GRIN, which it began developing more than 20 years ago.

As more genetic and agricultural data are generated about the wide range of plants preserved in genebanks around the world, the huge amount of information is increasingly difficult to manage and make accessible. This is especially the case for smaller genebanks in the developing world that may lack the capacity and resources to develop their own information management systems.

Now, thanks to the partnership between the Global Crop Diversity Trust, ARS and Bioversity, software upgrades will enable the GRIN system to be used by genebanks of all sizes, making more information about more plants available to researchers. The new system will help genebanks conserve and use precious genetic resources more effectively, and also help researchers, farmers and producers make the best possible use of information.

Preserving Genetic Variety of Valuable Specialty Crops

Protecting, preserving, providing material is the goal of the National Germplasm Resources Laboratory (NGRL) and the National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). An article on Preserving Genetic Variety of Valuable Crops provides some explanation of parts of the NGRL and the NPGS.

New Personnel at the Plant Exchange Office

Dr. John Wiersema, formerly of the Systematic Botany and Mycology Laboratory, has recently joined the Plant Exchange Office of the National Germplasm Resources Laboratory.  He is responsible for the taxonomic information of the Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).

The "Doomsday" Seed Vault

What does "Doomsday" and the coldest place on earth have to do with the National Germplasm Resources Laboratory (NGRL)?

The NGRL is helping the National Plant Germplasm System provide plant material to the "Doomsday" Seed Vault in the remote arctic mountains in Svalbard, Norway.  The URL for this seed vault is:  http://www.croptrust.org/main/arctic.php?itemid=211

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