ISHS Acta Horticulturae 760: XXVII International Horticultural Congress - IHC2006: II International Symposium on Plant Genetic Resources of Horticultural Crops
THE U.S. NATIONAL PLANT GERMPLASM SYSTEM IN AN ERA OF SHIFTING INTERNATIONAL NORMS FOR GERMPLASM EXCHANGE |
| Author: | P.K. Bretting |
| Keywords: | plant genetic resources, international genetic resource exchange |
| Abstract:
The United States National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS), one of the largest national plant germplasm systems, currently safeguards more than 466,000 accessions of more than 11,300 plant species. Most of those accessions were acquired internationally at a time when genetic resources were often exchanged informally, free of charge or other restrictions, and were viewed as abundant and part of humanity’s common heritage. During the last 20 years, several national and international trends shifted the norms for germplasm exchange. Access to and exchange of plant genetic resources have become increasingly formal and sometimes more restricted. Acquiring new samples for the NPGS from domestic and international sources became increasingly complicated and in some cases problematic. In contrast, acquiring samples from the NPGS in general became easier because of computerized databases and communication, and more reliable and rapid long-distance transport. Consequently, the volume of NPGS samples distributed annually expanded steadily, to a current average of about 120,000 per year, free of charge or restriction. About 1/4 of total distributions are exported from the U.S. The current ratio of six NPGS samples exported internationally for every new sample imported by the NPGS will likely increase as research programs that use plant genetic resources grow in other nations. More of the samples conserved and distributed by the NPGS will be genetic stocks generated by large-scale genomics and biotechnology research projects, and elite, previously proprietary, varieties and hybrids that move into the public domain when their limited-duration intellectual property rights expire. Additional changes in NPGS holdings may occur in the future as the norms for international exchange of genetic resources evolve in concert with national and international trends in scientific research, and the evolution of access and benefit-sharing regimes. | |
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