Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

2007 Minutes of the W-6 Technical Advisory Committee, Pullman,WA June 28-29, 2007 Attending: See Participant Listing Above Current W-6 Officers: Ian Ray, Chair - Dan Parfitt, Vice chair - Stephen Jones, Secretary Friday, June 29, 2007 The meeting was called to order by Ian Ray at 8:32am PST. Committee assignments: Committee assignments were made for the meeting as follows: Officers (see above): Current Officers: Ian Ray (chair) - 1st year, Dan Parfitt (vice chair) - 1st year, Stephen Jones (secretary) - 1st year Each of these terms are for 2 years Resolutions committee: Robert Zemetra and Dan Parfitt Minutes of 2007 annual meeting: The meeting was called to order by Ian Ray at 8:32 am PST. The minutes from the 2006 TAC meeting at Ames, IA were reviewed. Motion: Minutes of the 2006 TAC meeting were approved as submitted. (Moved by R. Zemetra, second by M. Brick). Motion passed unanimously by voice vote. W6 Administrative Advisor's report - presented by Ralph Cavalieri: Dr. Cavalieri reported that funding for the WRPIS had been approved for 2007-08 at $365,000 the same value as the previous year. He mentioned that 80% of W-6 activities are funded by ARS and 20% by Hatch Multi-State funds approved by Ag Experiment Station directors. The Hatch money is not keeping pace and challenges are arising due to the flat funding. Salaries continue to increase and consume most of the available funding. State reps need to make value of work known especially to Experiment Station directors. Peter Bretting on phone said that genome researchers are now a major user of this material. Long discussion on state reports and value of them followed. Action item: Ian and Steve J will draft new query letter for reports. Western Regional PI Station report and budget request, Pullman, WA - Clair Coyne (see submitted report and website http://www.ars-grin.gov/ars/PacWest/Pullman/ ): The budget of $380,423 was submitted previously to the committee for their consideration. Parfitt and Zemetra raised concerns on salaries eroding operating and suggested that salary savings from open positions should go to the program. As was the case in 2006 there was discussion that with more of the money going into mandated salary increases, maintenance funding would have to decrease, so less increase and related activities will have to be reduced. At years end of 2006 the unit had 76,020 accessions of 582 genera and 2,781 species. During 2006 14,901 accessions were distributed. The majority, 65% went to researchers in the USA. The 2008 budget was discussed again, prior to the vote for approval. Dan Parfitt reminded the committee of the need to plan for budget increases to keep up with inflation. Motion: Shawn M. moved to approve the budget as presented. Bob Z. seconded. The motion to approve the budget was passed by a unanimous vote. Business Meeting Discussion on officers in place and next meeting site. Sites for 2008 and 2009 are HI and NM. Motion Mark B., second S. Jones. Passed unanimously. Action item: Motion to work on letter to standardize responses. Bob Z. moved, Kevin J second, passed unanimously. Committee recognized the excellent organizational skills, commitment and dedication of local organizing committee. National Program Staff Report - The National Program report was presented by Dr. Peter Bretting (see attached report) NPGS website: http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/ . He introduced (on the phone) Gail Wisler as a new member of NPGS. Some points: National Germplasm Resources Lab - no report. National Center for Genetic Resource Preservation, Fort Collins, CO - no report. Cooperative State Research, Education and Extension Service - no report. BLM - no report. Forest Service - Vicky Erickson reported, see attached. National Arid Land Plant Germplasm Resource Unit, Parlier, CA - The report is attached. National Small Grains Collection, Aberdeen, ID - The report is attached. National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Corvallis, OR - The report is attached. National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Davis, CA - The report is attached. National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Hilo, HI - The report is attached. National Artic Plant Germplasm Resource Unit, Palmer AK - The report is attached. National Clonal Germplasm Repository, Riverside, CA - The report is attached and at: http://www.ars-grin.gov/ars/PacWest/Riverside/homepg1.htm ). State reports: Alaska - no report: Arizona - no report: California - presented by Dan Parfitt - see attached report. Colorado - Report presented by Mark Brick - see attached. . Idaho - presented by Robert Zemetra - see attached report. Montana - presented by Jack Martin - see attached report. New Mexico - presented by Ian Ray - see attached report. Oregon  presented by Shawn Mehlenbacher - see attached report. . Utah  presented by Kevin Jensen - see attached report. Washington - presented by Stephen Jones - see attached report. Wyoming - no report. Hawaii - Reported by John Cho, see attached. General comments concerning the state reports. Much discussion on improving response rate. More Business Three Resolutions A motion to formally thank local organizing committee was adopted. Moved Jones, second Dan P, unanimous. Motion to have S Jones and Ian R. in coordination with R. Cavalieri solicit feedback frown the W-6 state reps to develop a white paper to recommend procedures for the collection of information regarding germplasm use that would benefit the NPGS to improve visibility and tie to the directors if the Exp Stations. Moved Jones, second Dan P., unanimous. A motion was raised that the Pullman site needs an uninterrupted power supply for the seed storage facility. Moved Jones, second Dan P., unanimous. Motion: A motion to accept the three resolutions was presented by Dan Parfitt and seconded by Meg Gollunick. The motion was passed by unanimous voice vote. The meeting was adjourned at 3:37 pm PST. The file of the individual reports was too large to add at the end of the minutes or include as a file attachment. Please go the the Homepage of W-6 at http://lgu.umd.edu/lgu_v2/homepages/attachs.cfm?trackID=1096 in the Additional Documents section to view the available hard copies.

In 2006, 22,041 seed lots/clones from 14,901 accessions were distributed: 14,412 (65%) USA requests and 7,629 (35%) were distributions to foreign countries. There were 740 orders filled made up of 543 different requestors. The main crop requested was grass (9106) then safflower (1628) then alfalfa, beans, peas and chickpea all around 2000-2500 packets per genera. 14,858 observation data points were entered in GRIN in 2006 on 5,896 accessions on 111 descriptors on 23 crops. Thirty-eight per cent of the data came from cooperators and the other sixty-two per cent came from personnel at our station. 2527 viability records were entered on 2314 inventories. 2028 were tested in Pullman and 499 came from NCGRP and the rest came from other sources. Of these 2527 fifty-five per cent were considered backlog inventories meaning they were over three years old. 803 inventories were sent to NCGRP for backup. 1913 inventories were package and stored from newly increased/harvested accessions. 6006 inventories were weighed and seed number calculated. Documentation of pea aphid outbreak cycles. Mild winters may lead to greater incidence of pea aphids the following spring. Analysis of pea aphid outbreaks over a 24 year period showed that spring outbreaks in pea nurseries and commercial fields in eastern Washington do not consistently follow mild winter temperatures. Thus, pea producers should not expect to consistently experience pea aphid - induced problems after mild winters. This long-term research is important because it demonstrates that widespread applications of toxic insecticides are not required every year to control pea aphids; regular aphid censuses are required to assess the potential for problems and to initiate timely control measures. Pathogenic fungi in garlic cloves. Garlic distributed commercially and by the National Plant Germplasm System have the potential to carry pathogenic fungi within the clove. Garlic bulbs from the US and China were tested for the presence of pathogenic fungi. Garlic from all eight sources tested were found to carry pathogenic fungi; fungicides with potential to control these fungi were identified. This is important because it provides a means to ameliorate the potential of distributing garlic contaminates with pathogenic fungi. Genetic diversity in safflower accessions identified. Safflower is a widely grown crop with untapped potential for edible and industrial oil production, yet nothing is known about the molecular diversity of germplasm collections. An AFLP-based study of diversity of safflower germplasm from the Americas, China, East Africa, Eastern Europe, the Mediterranean, South Central Asia, and Southwest Asia, found that accession from all regions differed significantly in genetic distance. These results show that important geographic subgroups exist in safflower. This is important because it demonstrates that untapped diversity is available from different regions and that subpopulation structure should be considered in germplasm management and could aid in breeding efforts. Screening of Phaseolus collection for viruses. Viruses in bean accessions must be monitored to avoid distributing infested seed. The Phaseolus program used ELISA methods to test the core collection and other selected accessions for the presence of viruses. About 75% of the accessions produced in the Pullman program now have been tested. This testing is an important part of the bean curation program, needed to insure disease-free seed is distributed to customers. Seed regeneration of crop and wild species. The Pullman, WA Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research Unit has responsibility for the production and distribution of horticultural crop plants and related species. Regeneration plots were established and pollinators were provided as needed. High quality seed of 310 accessions, including crop species and wild relatives was produced. Bar-coding for greenhouse inventory efficiency. The Agronomy Regeneration Program of the Pullman, WA Plant Germplasm Introduction and Testing Research Unit typically maintains 1,000-2,000 potted plants in the greenhouse for various reasons, including; clonal accessions maintained only in the greenhouse, plants that will be split and a part planted in the field, accessions grown for DNA sampling, and accessions needing taxonomic verification. It is difficult, and time consuming, to maintain an inventory list of all pots as actions are performed on them. The Agronomy Regeneration Program staff and the IT specialist worked together to implement bar code scanner technology with a customized Microsoft Access form file to easily record data. This technology will reduce the amount of time used to keep the inventory up-to-date thus allowing the Agronomy Curator to manage the program more efficiently. Derivation of a parametric mean and variance of Prevosti's Distance for population genetic distances analyses . A longstanding problem with genetic distance coefficients based on allele frequencies is that parametric statistical comparisons of population differences have not been possible. An algebraic derivation of the variance of Prevosti's Distance based on the variance of the allele frequencies rather than iterations of the distance values per se provides statistical means and variances, allowing population comparisons with associated p-values. This derivation was verified on several alfalfa accesssion using several types of molecular markers. Parametric distance analyses will enhance our knowledge of genetic diversity within and among accessions comprised of wild or synthetic populations. Construction and characterization of a pea BAC library. Genomic tools are playing an increasingly important role in basic plant science discovery for crop improvement. The aim here was to develop a genomic tool, a pea bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) libraries that would enable the isolation of genes for allelic diversity analysis of the Pisum germplasm collection. The BAC libraries encompassed about 3.2 haploid genome equivalents. BAC plate-pool DNA successfully PCR amplified using seven of nine published pea resistance gene analogs (RGAs) and several other low copy number pea sequences. This HindIII BAC libraries of the pea, based on germplasm accession PI 269818, will be useful for the isolation of genes underlying disease resistance and other economic traits. Increased 350 accessions and completed germination tests on 400 accessions. Obtained digital images and uploaded into GRIN, 1100 images of seeds and flowers regenerated over the past 3 years. Distributed 228 seed packets of Lotus, representing 34 different species; 2236 seed packets of requests for Medicago, representing 30 different species, and 461requests for Trifolium, representing 26 different species. This accomplishment addresses the problem of effectively maintaining and charactering a large germplasm collection in order to enhance the use and conservation of these important genetic resources. This work was done at the National Temperate Forage Legume Germplasm Resources Unit in Prosser, WA.

Dugan, F.M., B.C. Hellier, and S.L. Lupien. 2007. Pathogenic fungi in garlic seed cloves from the United States and China, and efficacy of fungicides against pathogens in garlic germplasm in Washington State. Journal of Phytopathology. 155:437-45. Babcock, C., X. Chen, P.W. Crous, F.M. Dugan, B. Goates, and P.N. Green. 2007. Plant germplasm centers and microbial culture collections: A users guide to key genetic resources for plant pathology. Plant Dis. 91:476-484. Glawe, D.A. and F.M. Dugan. 2006. First report of Erysiphe (Uncinuliella) flexuosa in western North America. Pacific Northwest Fungi. 1(11):1-11. DOI 10.2509/pnwf.2006.001.011 Dugan, F.M. and D.A. Glawe. 2007. Powdery mildews on weeds in the Pacific Northwest: a miscellany of new records. Pacific Northwest Fungi. 2(1):1-7. DOI: 10.2509/pnwf.2007.002.001 Dugan, F.M. 2007. Hyphomycetes. In: In: McGraw-Hill Book Company editor. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, 10th edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. p. 780-782. Dugan, F.M. 2007. Coelomycetes. In: In: McGraw-Hill Book Company editor. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, 10th edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. p. 363-364. Clement, S.L. 2006. Pea Aphid Outbreaks and Virus Epidemics on Peas in the U.S. Pacific Northwest: Histories, Mysteries, and Challenges. Plant Health Progress. doi:10.1094/PHP-2006-1018-01-RV. Johnson, R.C., L. Dajue, and V.L. Bradley. Autumn growth and its relationship to winter survival in diverse safflower germplasm. Canadian Journal of Plant Science. 86:701¬-732. Clement, S.L., B.C. Hellier, L.R. Elberson, R.T. Staska, and M.A. Evans. 2007. Flies (Diptera: Muscidae, Calliphoridae) are efficient pollinators of Allium ampeloprasum L. (Alliaceae) in field cages. Journal of Economic Entomology. 100(1):131-135. Adair, R., R.C. Johnson, B.C. Hellier, and W. Kaiser. 2006. Collecting taper tip onion (allium acuminatum hook.) in the great basin using traditional and gis methods. Native Plant Journal. 7:141-148. Johnson, R.C., T.J. Kisha, and M.A. Evans. 2007. Characterizing Safflower Germplasm with AFLP Molecular Markers. Crop Science. 47:1728-1736. Dugan, F.M. 2007. Diseases and Disease Management in Seed Garlic: Problems and Prospects. The Americas Journal of Plant Science and Biotechnology.1:47-51. Dugan, F.M. 2007. Agonomycetes. In: McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, 10th edition. p.214-215 Dugan, F.M. 2007. Blastomycetes. In: In: McGraw-Hill Book Company editor. McGraw-Hill Encyclopedia of Science & Technology, 10th edition. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. p. 154-155. Mimura, M., C.J. Coyne, M.W. Bambuck, and T.A. Lumpkin. 2006. Ssr diversity of vegetable soybean [glycine max (l.) merr.]. Genetic Resources and Crop Evolution. DOI: 10.1007/s10722-006-0006-4.