Germplasm that's good for you

By LEE REICH

For The Associated Press

Despite its sinister sound, a "germplasm collection" spells good things for farmers and gardeners alike.

Enlarge photo

AP Photo/Lee reich This photo shows ripe fruit of the gooseberries in a germplasm collection.

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Think beyond the flu season and the word "germ" takes on a broader meaning: a small mass of living substance that can give rise to a whole organism or one of its parts. Think of wheat germ, that nutritious part of a wheat seed that contains the cells — the germ — that develop into a whole new wheat plant.

To us gardeners, a germplasm collection is a collection of plants or seeds. Many years ago, I had a collection of about 50 different varieties of gooseberries. It was one of the largest germplasm collections of gooseberries in the country. No, the fruits didn't all taste good, but I was reluctant to part with any variety that might not be available elsewhere. After all, some desirable gene — for disease resistance or pretty color — might be hidden in an otherwise insipid-tasting variety.

CORN BLIGHT WAS AN EYE OPENER

In 1970, southern leaf blight disease swept through Midwest corn fields, reducing the crop by 700 million bushels. Disease spread was possible because of the heavy dependence at the time on just a few corn genes. That blight helped prompt the formation of the U.S. National Plant Germplasm System, which acquires, maintains, characterizes and distributes germplasm of crop plants.

One part of the system is the National Clonal Germplasm Repositories, home to clones. Here, plants such as McIntosh apples, Hass avocados and Thompson Seedless grapes, which do not come true from seeds, are maintained as living plants.

Mulching, pruning and keeping the labeling in order on 50 gooseberry bushes was a big job for me — just think of the care needed to maintain the 2,500 varieties of apples at the apple repository in Geneva, N.Y.

Twenty-five other such repositories are scattered across the country. You'll find the papaya collection in Hawaii, the avocado collection in Florida, the blackberry collection in Oregon, the asparagus collection in Iowa, and so on for scores of other ornamental and crop species that must be maintained as living plants.

SEEDS ALSO GET A HOME

The National Seed Storage Laboratory and four Regional Plant Introduction Stations are another part of our Germplasm System. At these sites, alfalfa, barley, rice, wheat and other plants that are normally grown from seed are preserved as such in cold, dry rooms conducive to long-term storage.

You think your boxes of seeds are overflowing? The lab, at Fort Collins, Colo., keeps seeds of a quarter of a million types of plants in good condition.

Altogether, our germplasm system plays nursemaid to about a half a million varieties of plants. This germplasm might be used by plant breeders and other researchers to develop new varieties. Curators can also lend help to researchers, as well as to you and me, in obtaining obscure varieties not offered by nurseries.

All holdings are entered into GRIN, the Germplasm Resources Information Network, a computerized database.

GERMPLASM GIVE AND TAKE

The National Plant Germplasm System is a two-way street, and about 10,000 new varieties are added to collections each year. As they started putting together the gooseberry collection at the Corvallis, Ore., repository, I was happy enough to donate some cuttings and plants. I do still grow a couple of dozen varieties — but no longer any that do not meet my gustatory standards.

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On the Net:

Germplasm Resources Information Network: www.ars-grin.gov.