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
Previous PGOC Chair: Gary Pederson
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. National Germplasm Resources Lab, Plant Exchange: Gary Kinard, Karen Williams
g. National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation: Harvey Blackburn, Stephanie
Greene, Christina Walters
3. Training: Germplasm-Borne Pathogens and Outreach - Invited Lunch Speaker
a. Deborah Golino - California Foundation Plant Services and the National Clean Plant
Network – Opportunities for NPGS collaboration and models for documenting impact
4. Training: GRIN-Global Database
a. GRIN-Global Team
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 - Curator Workshop and Critical/Emerging Issues Discussion
a. Documenting economic value (impact) of conserving/utilizing genetic resources
b. Balancing Conservation & Research
c. Performance evaluation & promotion of Cat 4 scientists, status of expired P&P 431.0
d. Strategies for coping with funding and personnel shortages
– Guidelines for decommissioning NPGS collections – Stephanie Greene, Candy
Gardner
e. Proprietary, genetically enhanced, x-PVP, other black box materials in NPGS genebanks
– Peter Bretting, Candy Gardner
f. Sharing new technologies within NPGS
g. Reduced access to foreign germplasm
h. Quality reviews/audits of NPGS genebanks
i. (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)
Session to Continue Thursday Morning
8. Afternoon - Tour of the Davis Genebank and Wolfskill Field Station field that will consist of
instructions/demonstrations of curatorial practices for stone fruit, nut, and grape clonal
genetic resources
Thursday, October 30
9. Curator Workshop and Critical/Emerging Issues Discussion continued
10. Training: Germplasm and Global Food Supplies - Invited Lunch Speaker
a. Colin Khoury: “The changing global diet: implications and priorities for crop scientists”
11. NPGS Specialty Crop Collections – Opportunity for several brief presentations or discussions
relating to unique challenges – Written reports will be circulated relative to site
accomplishments.
a. Aberdeen, Idaho – Small Grains
b. Ames, Iowa – Amaranth, Clover, Maize, Medicinals, Oil Seeds, Ornamentals,
Vegetables
c. Beltsville, Maryland/Washington, D.C. – Woody Landscape Plants
d. College Station, Texas – Hickories, Pecans
e. Columbus, Ohio – Herbaceous Ornamentals
f. Corvallis, Oregon – Temperate Fruits, Nuts, Hops, Mint
g. Davis, California – Temperate Fruits, Nuts, Tomato Genetic Stocks
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Geneva, New York – Apples, Cherries, Grapes, Vegetables
Griffin, Georgia – Grasses, Legumes, Peanut, Sorghum, Vegetables
Hilo, Hawaii – Tropical Fruits & Nuts
Mayaguez, Puerto Rico – Subtropical/Tropical Fruits, Bamboo, Cacao
Miami, Florida – Subtropical Fruits & Ornamentals
Parlier, California – Arid Land Genetic Resources
Prosser, Washington – Forage Legumes
Pullman, Washington – Garlic, Legumes, Vegetables
Riverside, California – Citrus, Dates
Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin - Potatoes
Stuttgart, Arkansas - Rice
Urbana, Illinois – Maize & Soybean Genetic Stocks
12. 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
13. New Business
a. 2015 PGOC Meeting & Curator Workshop
14. PGOC Adjourns
Friday, October 31 – Clonal Curator Workshop (half day)
Meeting space at the Repository is limited.
Tour options will be arranged for people staying on for Crop Science meetings the next week, and
depending on numbers could also participate in the clonal workshop:
Informal discussion and brainstorming session on unique challenges faced in management and
distribution of living vegetative collections including: propagation, labeling, media, growing
containers, seasonal availability, perishable propagules, pathogen detection, on-site and off-site
backup.