Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding

440 CHAPTER 24
Figure 2 A copy of the registration certificate for “Prolina” soybean.
4 Prepare a release notice that will be distributed to other soybean breeders (mainly in the USA). The release notice for
“Prolina” was prepared showing that it was a release of the USDA-ARS administrator who has oversight for the release of
germplasm. That person reviewed and approved the notice and added their signature to the notice. (Occasionally, the
administrator will require some revision of the notice prior to signing it.) The release notice was then sent to the Director of
NCARS for his signature.
5 Distribute the approved and signed notice to all US soybean breeders. The release notice for “Prolina” was sent directly to
all public soybean breeders. It was also sent to the secretary of the Commercial Soybean Breeders organization, who distributed
it to the other publicity organizations of USDA-ARS and NCARS, who then prepared and distributed press releases.
6 Write a registration article for the journal of Crop Science. The registration manuscript for “Prolina” was prepared after its
release following journal guidelines for registration articles. It was submitted to the editor who handles the review and
acceptance of soybean germplasm registrations. It was peer reviewed and accepted contingent on some revisions. After
revision, the journal accepted the article, gave “Prolina” a registration number, and published it in Crop Science (Figure 1).
7 Submit seed samples to the USDA-ARS soybean germplasm collection in Urbana, Illinois and to the National Seed Storage
Laboratory at Fort Collins, Colorado. Seed samples of “Prolina” were sent to both these institutions, as requested.
The Crop Science Society of America then issued a registration certificate for “Prolina” (Figure 2).
breeder seed. The nucleus seed may be maintained as
stock seed.
Producers and consumers do not have access to the
breeder seed, partly because of its small quantity, but
mainly because of laws governing the marketing of seed.
The breeder’s seed is to satisfy the official certification
process for purity, quality, health, and uniformity so that
the producer has access to high quality seed.
Foundation seed
Foundation seed (or basic seed) is the immediate or first
generation increase of the breeder seed. The genetic
purity should be very close to the breeder seed. It is used
to produce certified seed directly or through registered
seed. It is produced under supervision (of the breeder or
developer of the cultivar or their representative).