Plant Germplasm Operations Committee (PGOC)
2014 Draft Agenda
October 28-31, Davis, California
PGOC Chair: Joseph Postman
PGOC Local Host, Vice Chair & Secretary: John Preece
Tuesday, October 28
1. Welcome, Agenda Review, Announcements, Approval of 2013 Minutes
2. National and International Developments
a. Status of the USDA National Plant Germplasm System - Peter Bretting, ARS Office of
National Programs
b. Canada - Dallas Kessler, Axel Diederichsen (Plant Gene Resources of Canada)
c. China - Wang Shumin (Institute of Crop Sciences, Chinese Academy of Agricultural
Sciences), Lu Xinxiong (National Genebank of China, Chinese Academy of Agricultural
Sciences)
d. Colombia - Alonso Gonzalez Mejia
e. Mexico- José Fernando de la Torre, Director, Centro Nacional de Recursos Genéticos,
INIFAP, Tepetitlan, Mexico.
f. CIMMYT - Thomas Payne, International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center,
Mexico
g. Global Crop Diversity Trust - Dagny Poser
h. National Germplasm Resources Lab, Plant Exchange: Gary Kinard, Karen Williams
i. National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation: Harvey Blackburn, Stephanie
Greene, Christina Walters
– Enhancing interactions between active and base collections to improve NPGS
backup security – Stephanie Greene
3. Germplasm-Borne Pathogens and Outreach - Invited Lunch Speaker
 Deborah Golino - California Foundation Plant Services and the National Clean Plant
Network – Opportunities for NPGS collaboration and models for documenting impact
4. GRIN-Global Database
 GRIN-Global Team – Updates, Discussion and Training
5. NPGS Order Processing Challenges
a. Uniform policy for non-research requests – Gary Pederson
b. Phytosanitary Certificates, Shipping Costs- Gary Kinard
6. NPGS Regional Plant Introduction Station Updates
a. Candy Gardner - Ames, Iowa
b. Gan-Yuan Zhong - Geneva, New York
c. Gary Pederson - Griffin, Georgia
d. Jinguo Hu - Pullman, Washington
Wednesday, October 29
7. Morning – NPGS Clonal Genebank Visit
a) Lab and Nursery Tour
b) Fruit tasting
c) Bus to UC Davis Wolfskill Field Station
d) Lunch and Open Air Discussion of Critical and Emerging Issues
(to be continued Thursday)
 Documenting economic value (impact) of conserving/utilizing genetic resources
 Balancing Conservation & Research
 Performance evaluation & promotion of Cat 4 scientists, status of P&P 431.0
 Guidelines for decommissioning NPGS collections – Stephanie Greene, Candy
Gardner
 Proprietary, genetically enhanced, x-PVP, other black box materials in NPGS
genebanks – Peter Bretting, Candy Gardner
 Personally Identifiable Information and Public GRIN Cooperator Records
 Sharing new technologies within NPGS
 Reduced access to foreign germplasm
 Quality reviews/audits of NPGS genebanks
 (other possible topics as suggested by curators: labeling and electronic data
collection, alternate storage technologies, molecular markers, GIS/GPS, crop wild
relatives, recent APHIS permit changes, succession planning)
e) Genebank Orchard Collections Tour
f) Sampling at local Brewery
Thursday, October 30
8. Critical & Emerging Issues Discussion continued
9. Germplasm and Global Food Supplies - Invited Lunch Speaker
a. Colin Khoury: “The changing global diet: implications and priorities for crop scientists”
10. Opportunity for brief presentations, and informal discussion about unique challenges at NPGS
Specialty Crop Collections. Written accomplishment reports will be circulated in advance.
11. Subcommittee Reports
a. NPGS Special Achievement Award – John Preece
b. NPGS Operations Manual – Kim Hummer
c. Acquisitions & Distributions – Karen Williams
d. Crop Wild Relatives – Stephanie Greene
e. GIS and Georeferencing – Stephanie Greene
f. GMOs/Transgenes – (addressed above in 7b)
g. Molecular Markers in GRIN – Gayle Volk and Chris Richards
h. Phytosanitary and Shipping – (addressed above in 5b)
i. “Seeds for Our Future” brochure update – Gary Kinard
12. New Business
a. 2015 PGOC Meeting & Curator Workshop
13. PGOC Adjourns
Friday, October 31 – Clonal Curator Workshop (half day)
(Not included in online registration.) Meeting space at the Repository is limited. Informal
discussion and brainstorming session on unique challenges faced in management and distribution
of clonal collections including: propagation, labeling, media, growing containers, seasonal
availability, perishable propagules, pathogen detection, on-site and off-site backup.
Tour options can be arranged for people staying on for Crop Science meetings the next week, and
depending on numbers could also participate in the clonal workshop: