Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding

and the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service
(APHIS) both operate from the Plant Introduction
Station at Glenn Dale, Maryland. These regional centers
were established in 1946 for several purposes: (i) to
determine the germplasm needs within the region; (ii)
to assist with foreign explorations to fill regional needs;
(iii) to multiply, evaluate, and maintain new plant and
Table 6.1 Germplasm holdings in germplasm banks in the USA.
PLANT GENETIC RESOURCES FOR PLANT BREEDING 105
seeds collections of crops adapted to the regions with
minimal loss of genetic variability within the strains; and
(iv) to distribute the seed and plant accessions to plant
scientists worldwide. These collections come from many
countries. For example, in the National Small Grains
Collection, the accessions for wheat, barley, and rice
come from over 100 countries or regions.
Repository Location Germplasm Holding
Barley Genetic Stock Center Aberdeen, IA Barley 3,262
Clover Collection Lexington, KY Clover 246
Cotton Collection College Station, TX Cotton 9,536
Database Management Unit Beltsville, MD
Desert Legume Program Tuscon, AZ Various 2,585
Maize Genetics Stock Center Urbana, IL Maize 4,710
National Arctic Plant Genetic Resources Unit Palmer, AK Various 515
National Arid Land Plant Genetic Resources Unit Parlier, CA Various 1,177
National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation Fort Collins, CO Various 23,007
National Clonal Germplasm Repository Corvallis, OR Various 12,943
National Clonal Germplasm Repository Riverside, CA Citrus, dates 1,167
National Clonal Germplasm Repository Davis, CA Tree fruit, nuts, grape 5,397
National Germplasm Resources Laboratory Beltsville, MD Various 252
National Small Grains Collection Aberdeen, IA Barley, others 126,883
National Temperate Forage Legume Genetic Resources Unit Prosser, WA Various
North Central Regional Plant Introductions Stations Ames, IA Various 47,684
Northeast Regional Plant Introduction Station Geneva, NY Various 11,690
Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center Columbus, OH Various 2,271
Pea Genetic Stock Center Pullman, WA Pea 501
Pecan Breeding and Genetics Brownwood and Pecan 881
Somerville, TX
Plant Genetic Resources Conservation Unit Griffin, GA Various
Plant Genetic Resources Unit Geneva, NY Various 5,243
Plant Germplasm Quarantine Office Beltsville, MD Various 4,641
Rice Genetic Stock Center Stuttgart, AR Rice 19
Southern Regional Plant Introduction Station Griffin, GA Various 83,902
Soybean/Maize Germplasm, Pathology and Genetics Urbana, IL Soybean, maize 20,601
Research Unit
Subtropical Horticulture Research Station Miami, FL Various 4,779
Tobacco Collection Oxford, NC Tobacco 2,106
Tomato Genetics Resource Center Davis, CA Tomato 3,381
Tropical Agriculture Research Station Mayaguez, Puerto Rico Various 652
Tropical Plant Genetic Resource Management Unit Hilo, HA Various 692
United States Potato Genebank Sturgeon Bay, WI Potato 5,648
Western Regional Plant Introduction Station Pullman, WA Various 72,190
Wheat Genetic Stocks Center Aberdeen, ID Wheat 334
Woody Landscape Plant Germplasm Repository Washington, DC Various 1,904
(National Arboretum)
Total germplasm holdings as of August 29, 2004 460,799