MONDAY, OCTOBER 28, 2024. CONTACT: CLAIRE HEINITZ, PhD, USDA-ARS DAVIS GERMPLASM RESEARCH LEADER.
Featured image: Dr. Harold Olmo selection grapes. Collected and photographed on September 13, 2024 by Stephanie Bolton, PhD, during a Lodi Grapevine Rootstock Research Focus Group field trip to Wolfskill and the California grape germplasm vineyards.
The National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS) Vitis vinifera (wine and table grapes) and wild species germplasm collection is maintained in Davis, CA and the cold-hardy grape hybrids and wild species are maintained in Geneva, NY.
A highlight of visiting the Davis, CA genebank unit (housed on a property most people fondly call “Wolfskill” in Winters) is driving through the allée of ancient olive trees.
Photo taken by Stephanie Bolton, PhD, during an NGRA field trip.
The Davis, CA genebank unit manages germplasm of Vitis, Prunus (stone fruits), walnut, pistachio, pomegranate, fig, persimmon, kiwifruit, and mulberry. The extensive field collections are maintained by 8.8 permanent full time employees shared across the crops. The Davis genebank unit maintains a total of 6900+ accessions, including 3656 accessions of Vitis maintained by one crop manager. A total of 2190 samples were distributed from this genebank unit in 2023.
A group from the GiESCO international viticulture conference touring the germplasm vineyards in Geneva, NY during the summer of 2023.
Photo by Stephanie Bolton, PhD.
The Geneva, NY clonal genebank unit manages germplasm of Vitis, apple, and tart cherry. The extensive field collections are maintained by 6.7 permanent full time employees and 1 temporary full time employee shared across the crops. The Geneva clonal genebank unit maintains a total of 6500+ accessions, including 1400 accessions of Vitis that are managed by one curator. A total of 319 samples were distributed from this genebank unit in 2023.
Staff at both genebank units are responsible for acquisition, field maintenance, genotypic characterization, evaluation of priority traits, data collection and documentation, and sample distribution. Both genebank units have significant backlogs and require resources for field repropagation, characterization, evaluation, pathogen testing and eradication, taxonomic identification as well as labor-intensive cryopreservation back-up at the National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation. The Davis genebank unit has insufficient orchard and vineyard field space. The Geneva clonal genebank unit needs replacement greenhouse space and will need additional field space within five years.
The National Plant Germplasm System Strategic Plan directed by Congress in the 2018 Farm Bill itemizes expanded budgets and operational capacity needed to address germplasm maintenance and genetic characterization backlogs. Increases to the annual Davis genebank unit budget from the current $1,835,596 to $3,300,000 at 5 years are needed. Increases to the annual Geneva clonal genebank unit budget from the current $945,604 to $2,800,000 at 5 years and $3,500,000 at +10 years are needed (the cost to implement the Plan are estimated and do not constitute a USDA request for funding). Plan details are available at: Index – USDA ARS GRIN (ars-grin.gov).
Impact example: Vitis piasezkii var. pagnuccii (DVIT 2027), acquired in 1980 and maintained at the NPGS Davis, CA genebank unit, has novel loci for resistance to powdery mildew, Ren6 and Ren7, as discovered by the University of California, Davis. DVIT 2027 is now being used in U.S. breeding programs. DOI 10.1186/s12870-016-0855-8
USDA-ARS NATIONAL PLANT GERMPLASM SYSTEM (NPGS)
VITIS GERMPLASM COLLECTION, DAVIS, CA & GENEVA, NY
Contacts: Claire Heinitz (Claire.Heinitz@usda.gov), Davis Research Leader
Gan-Yuan Zhong (GanYuan.Zhong@usda.gov), Geneva Research Leader
Office of National Programs, Crop Production and Protection
George Washington Carver Center
5601 Sunnyside Avenue, Beltsville, MD 27005
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