Forty-eight years later, the four Regional Plant Introduction Stations were established under the Research and Marketing Act of 1946. The North Central Regional Plant Introduction Station (NCRPIS) at Ames, Iowa, which was the first station established, began operation in 1948. The three other regional stations were established at Pullman, Washington; Geneva, New York; and Griffin, Georgia (White et al. 1989). NCRPIS was established as Regional Research Project NC-7, entitled "Introduction, Multiplication, Evaluation, Preservation, Cataloging, and Utilization of Plant Germplasm" (Wilson et al. 1985).
Administrative Staff: USDA-supported Coordinator and Secretary.
Professional Staff: USDA-supported Research Agronomist, Research Entomologist, and Horticulturist, and State-supported Plant Pathologist.
Curatorial Staff: Five State-supported Curators with responsibilities for the following crops, amaranth and miscellaneous legumes, maize, sunflower, vegetable crops, Brassica and grasses.
Support Staff: The Farm Superintendent, two technicians (maintenance and seed), and two clerks; a data processor, and a maize technician, are all State employees. There are USDA-supported Research Technicians for the Agronomist, Entomologist, and Horticulturist, as well as a bee technician. Additional part time or temporary employees (usually students) are hired as necessary. In addition a few graduate students work on germplasm related projects.
Accessions are acquired by NCRPIS by several means. These include plant explorations, foreign or domestic, which may be conducted by NCRPIS personnel, or by arrangement with other collectors. Seed can be requested by NCRPIS from other agencies through the Germplasm Services Laboratory (GSL) at Beltsville, Maryland, or by the GSL staff. Direct contact with other researchers and through exchange with other genebanks is another means of acquisition.
All accessions in NPGS are recorded, assigned plant inventory (PI) numbers, and all of their pertinent data recorded into GRIN.
Pollen control is accomplished for cross pollinated crops by caging increase plots or bagging individual plants. Pollination is accomplished by introducing honey bees, and/or house flies, into the cages of wild sunflower, umbels, cucumber, muskmelon, and many herbaceous ornamentals (Ellis et al. 1981). Other pollinator species, such as bumble bees and leafcutting bees, are used for specialized crops such as Cuphea. Crops such as maize, Cucurbita, and cultivated sunflower, are isolated by bagging flower parts and hand pollination. Pollen control techniques vary with the species. Seed increase population sizes vary with the species but, whenever possible, they are kept sufficiently large to maintain genetic integrity (Clark 1989 and NCRPIS 1988).
Self-pollinated crops are generally increased without providing isolation. They require smaller population sizes than cross pollinated crops if they are homozygous. Where the degree of outcrossing within an accession is variable or unknown, increases are isolated by cages without pollinators.
Seedlings of most small seeded crops are started in the greenhouse and transplanted to the field. Large seeded crops, such as maize and sunflower, are direct seeded with a tractor drawn planter. Harvest is accomplished by hand, and plant material is dried at 27deg. to 32°C. Fruits from vine crops are hand harvested, seed is removed from the fruit and dried under similar conditions. Dried seeds are generally threshed by hand or by hammer mill, and then cleaned with desk top clipper cleaners and/or air column separators. Hand picking is sometimes required for final cleaning. After cleaning, seed is inventoried and placed in storage. Seed of each accession is sent to the National Seed Storage Laboratory at Fort Collins, Colorado for inclusion in the base collection.
Some crops or accessions from various crops need to be increased at sites other than NCRPIS. Tropical maize, for example, which has a short day-length requirement for flowering is increased at the USDA Agriculture Research Service Tropical Research Station at Mayaguez, Puerto Rico. This station is also used as a winter nursery for sunflowers.
In 1987, 19,689 seed lots were distributed worldwide. About half of the 13,473 U.S. requests were from privately supported research projects, and about half of those requests came from the North Central Region. Foreign scientists received 6216 seed lots (NCRPIS 1988). Table 3 shows the number of crop distributions.
Much of the evaluation is for pest resistance. The NCRPIS pathologist and entomologist are responsible for some of this work. Since it is not possible for NCRPIS personnel to evaluate all pests that may affect a crop, researchers at other institutions work cooperatively with NCRPIS personnel to evaluate for pests, and morphological and physiological descriptors for which they have expertise. All these data are entered into GRIN.
Special funds have been provided to NCRPIS by USDA-ARS to evaluate certain characters in sunflower and sugar beets. Evaluation for adaptation of woody ornamental species to conditions in the North Central Region is an ongoing project, with 32 active trial sites. (Wilson et al. 1985).
Several problems pertaining to maintenance of germplasm at NCRPIS are being addressed by the Research Unit. Examples of past and current research include: studies of insect pollination in cages of sunflower (Collison and Wilson 1985) and Cuphea, studies to determine rearing techniques for insect pests needed for evaluation (Wilson and McClurg 1986), storing and longevity of Cuphea seed, storing sunflower pollen (Roath et al. 1988), and adapting wild mint family species to use as bee pasture (Widrlechner 1987).
Mr. J.D. Mowder
GRIN Database Manager
USDA-ARS
Bldg. 001, Rm. 130, BARC West
Beltsville, MD 20705
301/344-3318
Genus | Total Accessions | Available Accessions |
Zea | 6617 | 5003 |
Cucumis | 3525 | 2399 |
Brassica | 3496 | 1565 |
Helianthus | 3016 | 897 |
Amaranthus | 2630 | 721 |
Beta | 1021 | 462 |
Panicum | 964 | 775 |
Setaria | 938 | 867 |
Cucurbita | 816 | 511 |
Daucus | 625 | 397 |
Melilotus | 575 | 485 |
Cuphea | 360 | 81 |
Woody ornamentals (511 spp.) | 1090 | 296 |
Herbaceous ornamentals (154 spp.) | 285 | 102 |
Genus | No. of Accessions | Genus | No. of Accessions | Genus | No. of Accessions | |
Grasses and Field Crops | ||||||
Agrostis | 193 | Glyceria | 6 | Tetrachne | 1 | |
Apera | 6 | Helictotrichon | 9 | Tricholaena | 14 | |
Briza | 4 | Nardus | 2 | Tridens | 4 | |
Calamovilfa | 3 | Phleum | 2 | Tripsacum | 5 | |
Echinochloa | 67 | Schedonnardus | 1 | Urochloa | 1 | |
Legumes | ||||||
Amphicarpa | 1 | Dalea | 13 | Petalostemon | 3 | |
Coronilla | 91 | Galega | 13 | Tetragonolobus | 20 | |
Fruits and Vegetables | ||||||
Asparagus | 144 | Pastinaca | 34 | Sium | 1 | |
Cichorium | 193 | Petroselinum | 139 | Spinacia | 264 | |
Ferula | 2 | |||||
Oil and Special Crops | ||||||
Agastache | 21 | Echinops | 2 | Nepeta | 1 | |
Alliaria | 1 | Elsholtzia | 1 | Ocimum | 87 | |
Alyssum | 1 | Enarthocarpus | 1 | Oenothera | 1 | |
Ammi | 2 | Eruca | 149 | Onosma | 1 | |
Anethum | 73 | Eryngium | 7 | Origanum | 8 | |
Arctium | 1 | Eupatorium | 2 | Orlaya | 2 | |
Berteroa | 3 | Euphorbia | 18 | Osteospermum | 1 | |
Bifora | 18 | Foeniculum | 12 | Oxalis | 2 | |
Biscutella | 1 | Glaucium | 2 | Perilla | 19 | |
Bupleurum | 2 | Goldbachia | 1 | Perovskia | 2 | |
Calamintha | 1 | Guizotia | 1 | Picris | 4 | |
Camelina | 9 | Helenium | 1 | Pimpinella | 17 | |
Cardamine | 1 | Hyoscyamus | 1 | Pycnanthemum | 17 | |
Carum | 4 | Hyssopus | 1 | Rhaponticum | 4 | |
Caucalis | 1 | Iberis | 2 | Rionosciadum | 1 | |
Celosia | 6 | Isatis | 2 | Salvia | 6 | |
Centranthes | 1 | Lallemantia | 1 | Schlectendalia | 2 | |
Chamaepeuce | 1 | Lappula | 2 | Sideritis | 2 | |
Chenopodium | 59 | Lapsana | 4 | Sigesbeckia | 1 | |
Christolea | 1 | Leonotis | 1 | Sinapis | 20 | |
Cnicus | 2 | Lepidium | 69 | Stachys | 1 | |
Coriandrum | 46 | Levisticum | 1 | Stenachaenium | 3 | |
Crambe | 158 | Limnosciadium | 1 | Symphytum | 4 | |
Cynoglossum | 1 | Linum | 9 | Tephrosia | 14 | |
Ducrosia | 1 | Lobularia | 1 | Thalictrum | 21 | |
Echinacea | 1 | Lunaria | 1 | Thlaspi | 3 | |
Madia | 1 | Trachyspermum | 1 | |||
Monarda | 20 | Vaccaria | 8 | |||
Mosla | 1 | Vernonia | 15 | |||
Ornamentals | ||||||
Abies | 1 | Fendlera | 1 | Phellodendron | 6 | |
Acer | 64 | Fittonia | 1 | Phlox | 1 | |
Adonis | 4 | Fontanesia | 1 | Photinia | 3 | |
Ailanthus | 3 | Forestiera | 2 | Physocarpus | 5 | |
Alcea | 9 | Forsythia | 3 | Picea | 4 | |
Alchemilla | 3 | Fraxinus | 32 | Picris | 1 | |
Alnus | 16 | Geranium | 2 | Pinus | 28 | |
Althaea | 2 | Ginkgo | 1 | Platanus | 2 | |
Amelanchier | 8 | Gleditsia | 2 | Polygonum | 1 | |
Amorpha | 12 | Gymnocladus | 2 | Populus | 5 | |
Ampelopsis | 4 | Gypsophila | 7 | Potentilla | 13 | |
Anemone | 2 | Hamamelis | 1 | Prinsepia | 1 | |
Antirrhinum | 1 | Helianthella | 1 | Prunus | 13 | |
Aronia | 4 | Helichrysum | 1 | Pterocarya | 2 | |
Artemisia | 1 | Hemerocallis | 1 | Pteroceltis | 1 | |
Asimina | 2 | Hesperis | 1 | Pterostyrax | 1 | |
Asphodeline | 2 | Heteropappus | 1 | Purshia | 1 | |
Asphodelus | 1 | Hippophae | 3 | Pyrus | 3 | |
Baileya | 1 | Holodiscus | 4 | Quercus | 13 | |
Baptisia | 2 | Hovenia | 2 | Rhamnus | 11 | |
Begonia | 2 | Hydrangea | 8 | Rhododendron | 12 | |
Berberis | 1 | Hypericum | 3 | Rhodotypos | 4 | |
Betula | 32 | Ilex | 2 | Rhus | 22 | |
Bryonia | 1 | Iliamna | 2 | Ribes | 11 | |
Buckleya | 1 | Impatiens | 2 | Robinia | 4 | |
Buxus | 1 | Iris | 1 | Rochelia | 1 | |
Calendula | 14 | Jamesia | 2 | Rosa | 43 | |
Callicarpa | 8 | Juglans | 2 | Rubus | 1 | |
Caltha | 1 | Juniperus | 40 | Ruscus | 1 | |
Campanula | 5 | Kalmia | 1 | Salix | 45 | |
Campsis | 2 | Kalopanax | 1 | Sambucus | 3 | |
Caragana | 7 | Kitaibelia | 1 | Sanvitalia | 12 | |
Carpinus | 15 | Knautia | 1 | Sapium | 1 | |
Catalpa | 1 | Kohleria | 2 | Scilla | 1 | |
Catananche | 1 | Kolkwitzia | 1 | Securinega | 1 | |
Ceanothus | 7 | Laburnum | 4 | Shepherdia | 3 | |
Celastrus | 1 | Lapeirousia | 1 | Sibiraea | 1 | |
Celtis | 12 | Larix | 5 | Simsia | 1 | |
Cephalotaxus | 2 | Lavatera | 8 | Smilax | 1 | |
Cercis | 22 | Ledum | 1 | Sorbus | 29 | |
Cercocarpus | 5 | Ligustrum | 26 | Spergula | 1 | |
Chaenomeles | 1 | Lilium | 3 | Sphaeralcea | 2 | |
Chamaebatiaria | 1 | Lonicera | 13 | Spiraea | 6 | |
Chamaecyparis | 1 | Lythrum | 1 | Staphylea | 17 | |
Cheiranthus | 2 | Maackia | 1 | Styrax | 1 | |
Chilopsis | 1 | Maclura | 4 | Symphoricarpos | 1 | |
Chrysanthemum | 85 | Mahonia | 1 | Symplocos | 1 | |
Cistus | 1 | Malope | 1 | Syringa | 6 | |
Clematis | 4 | Malus | 8 | Tetradymia | 1 | |
Coleus | 10 | Malva | 9 | Thuja | 7 | |
Consolida | 4 | Malvastrum | 1 | Tilia | 7 | |
Cornus | 39 | Menispermum | 1 | Tithonia | 4 | |
Corylopsis | 1 | Metasequoia | 1 | Tripterygium | 2 | |
Cotoneaster | 20 | Mimulus | 3 | Tulipa | 3 | |
Crataegus | 19 | Morus | 1 | Ulmus | 14 | |
Cupressus | 7 | Myrica | 1 | Undetermined | 4 | |
Cytisus | 2 | Mytilaria | 1 | Verbena | 1 | |
Daphne | 1 | Nyssa | 3 | Viburnum | 27 | |
Delphinium | 10 | Onoseris | 1 | Viola | 2 | |
Dianthus | 25 | Ostrya | 13 | Weigela | 14 | |
Dipteronia | 1 | Oxydendrum | 1 | Wisteria | 1 | |
Duchesnea | 3 | Paeonia | 1 | x Sorbocotoneaster | 1 | |
Elaeagnus | 5 | Parthenocissus | 1 | Xanthoceras | 2 | |
Eucommia | 2 | Passiflora | 1 | Yucca | 8 | |
Euonymus | 33 | Paxistima | 1 | Zelkova | 2 | |
Evodia | 3 | Peganum | 1 | Zinnia | 32 | |
Exochorda | 2 | Penstemon | 41 | Ziziphus | 1 | |
Fallugia | 1 | Peperomia | 1 | |||
Petteria | 2 |
Distribution (no.) | ||
Genus | Seed packets | Plants |
Zea | 1806 | |
Cucumis | 5258 | |
Brassica | 2440 | |
Helianthus | 1239 | |
Amaranthus | 199 | |
Beta | 72 | |
Panicum | 96 | |
Setaria | 71 | |
Cucurbita | 137 | |
Daucus | 303 | |
Melilotus | 58 | |
Cuphea | 70 | |
Woody ornamentals | 21 | 1217 |
Herbaceous ornamentals | 60 | 1 |
Other | 6944 |