Accession Information - Faqs

How can I find out everything known about a specific accession in the NPGS collection?

To find out about a specific accession in the NPGS,

• Start from the NPGS home page: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/
• Click on Search GRIN to take you to: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/searchgrin.html
• Click on Accession Queries to take you to: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/acc/acc_queries.html
• For information on a single accession, such as a cultivar or a PI number, type it into the first box under the Simple Queries area.

To find out about several accessions, go to the Complex Query area just below the Simple Queries Area.

• Briefly glance through the whole page to see which item(s) you want to search on. The accessions you get will be available for you unless you check the box for historical and unavailable accessions.
• Fill in the fields that help you choose the accessions you want. For an example of this, see the FAQ just below.
• Click on "Include historical and unavailable accessions" to ensure accession is selected even if it is not currently available

The Accession page includes information regarding when the accession was received by the NPGS, the improvement status, reproductive uniformity, all names associated with the accession, intellectual property rights status, availability, general narrative, pedigree narrative, collection site description, source history including people responsible for acquiring, and any observation data.

How do I obtain a list of red clover accessions that have been collected in France and are currently available for distribution?

The first thing you must do is see if we call the common name red clover or clover, red or something else.

• Begin at the Search GRIN page, at the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/searchgrin.html
• Click on Taxonomic Queries to take you to the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/tax/index.html
• Click on Form-based queries of species data to take you to the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/tax/taxgenform.html
• Into the "Common name" field, type: red clover
• Click on the Submit Query button

You get a list of scientific names for your request. In our case, we got Trifolium pratense L. When you click on the name, you find out that there are 1290 accessions of it in the system, and that they are located at the Western Regional station, known as W6. You will also see that it has red clover for a common name along with a lot of other common names.

Now to continue looking for red clover collected in France,

• Go back to the Search GRIN page, at the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/searchgrin.html
• Click on Accession Queries to take you to the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/acc/acc_queries.html
• Go to the Complex Queries area of this page.
• In the "Common Name" field, type: red clover
• Just below this, click on the word Country to see how we spell France in the system. It seems France is spelled the way we spell it.
• In the "Country" field, type: France
• Click on the button, Submit Request at the bottom of the page.
• We received a list of 19 accessions.

How do I obtain a list of all landraces of Medicago sativa subsp. falcata that are in the NPGS collection, even those not currently available?

To find a list of all the landraces of Medicago sativa subsp. falcata, even if they are not currently available,

• Go to the Search GRIN page, at the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/searchgrin.html
• Click on Accession Queries to take you to the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/acc/acc_queries.html
• Go to the Complex Queries area of this page.
• In the "Taxon" field, type: Medicago sativa subsp. falcata
• In the "Choose a type of Improvement Status:" field, highlight: Landrace
• Click on the box for the field: "Include historical and unavailable accessions in the search."
• Click on Submit Request

How can I obtain seed from the NPGS collection?

If you know the specific PI number you would like to obtain, fill out the Germplasm Request Form (http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/order.html) Or, contact the curator by fax, email or phone. If the current query dialogs set up on the web site are not helpful to you, contact the crop curator using either the Germplasm Request Form, email or phone and describe what you are looking for. Using SQL, the curators can put together a more sophisticated query.

How can I tell if an accession is a landrace or primitive cultivar?

Take a look at the previous search results: Improvement status=landrace. To determine if the accession is a primitive cultivar, look under the section titled "Accession Names and Identifiers", there will be a name listed and just below it you will see the words "Type: cultivar" if it is a Primitive Cultivar, or "Type: localname" if it is a landrace. If you do not see any names, then you have a landrace not a primitive cultivar.

How can I find out how many alfalfa accessions came into the NPGS collection in 1975?

To find the number of alfalfa accessions that came into the NPGS in 1975,

• Begin with the Search GRIN page, at the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/searchgrin.html
• Click on Accession Queries to take you to the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/acc/acc_queries.html
• Go to the Complex Queries area of this page.
• In the "Common name" field, type: alfalfa
• Towards the bottom of the page, in the field labeled: " Check one to limit your selection(s).", click the field "Specific year, enter year:" and type: 1975
• Click the box for the field: "Include historical and unavailable accessions in the search."
• Click Submit Request

How can I see what recent material has been added to the Trifolium collection?

To see what material just entered the Trifolium collection,

• Begin with the Search GRIN page, at the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/searchgrin.html
• Click on Accession Queries to take you to the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/acc/acc_queries.html
• Go to the Complex Queries area of this page.
• In the "Taxon" field, type: Trifolium
• Towards the bottom of the page, in the field labeled: "Check one to limit your selection(s).", click next to the field "Current year"
• Click the box for the field: " Include historical and unavailable accessions in the search."
• Click Submit Request

How can I find out what Trifolium species are held at the Griffin, Georgia repository?

To find out what Trifolium species are held at Griffin, Georgia,

• Begin with the Search GRIN page, at the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/searchgrin.html
• Click on Accession Queries to take you to the following URL: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/acc/acc_queries.html
• Go to the Complex Queries area of this page.
• In the "Taxon" field, type: Trifolium
• Towards the bottom of the page, in the field labeled: "Choose a repository to limit your request to:" highlight, S9
• Click the box for the field: "Include historical and unavailable accessions in the search."
• Click Submit Request

How can I obtain a list of accessions that were collected by John Doe, on his trip to Turkey in 1977?

• Begin at the following URL http://www.ars-grin.gov/~dbmuqs/src.html
• In the query box, type the individual's last name
• Click Submit Request

A list of all individuals in GRIN with specified last name appears.

• Select the person you want.
• With each person is a listing of the GRIN accessions they collected, donated or developed. The list is sorted by date and by country. Find the apprpriate date and country and click on "# of acc" to get a complete list of accessions.