Plant Genetic Resources: Not Just for Plant Breeding Anymore.

The U.S. National Plant Germplasm System maintains over 480,000 accessions of plant genetic resources from over 2,000 genera and 12,400 species.  These genetic resources consist of agronomic crops, horticultural crops, fruit and nut crops, medicinal plants, ornamental crops, and other species.  Each year, over 120,000 accessions are distributed to scientists and educators in the U.S. and throughout the world for research and educational use.  Traditionally, agronomic crop genetic resources have been used by plant breeders in applied research leading to the development of improved cultivars.  There are now a wide variety of researchers from other scientific disciplines that are using plant genetic resources in their research.  Each year new scientists are requesting plant genetic resources to help achieve their research objectives.  This symposium will demonstrate only a sample of the wide range of U.S. research being conducted and the impact of that research utilizing agronomic genetic resources.  Within the past five years, additional studies not discussed in this symposium have been conducted on soil phytoremediation, allelopathy, salt tolerance, ozone sensitivity, cell biology, genetic and species diversity, aromatic and medicinal uses, flower color, biofuels, invasive species, phylogeny and genetic relationships, variability of compounds (fatty acids, antioxidents, isozymes, isoflavones, polyphenolics, oil content and quality, and sugars), seed storage proteins, mutagenesis, biological control of weeds and insects, rhizobial response, wildlife use, and other research areas.  Plant genetic resources have become a valuable research component for many scientific disciplines outside of traditional plant breeding.