a report from Ornamental Plant Germplasm center

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Ornamental Plant Germplasm center
(OPGC)
P.hD student:
Yusuf Farrokhzad
Farrokhzadyusuf@gmail.com

2. Sponsors:
1. U.S department of agriculture
2. Agricultural research service
3. Floricultural and nursery research initiative
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History of Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center
Through the efforts of trade associations and academia, and
strong support from within the USDA, the Floriculture and
Nursery Research Initiative was created in 1998. One of the
stipulations of the Initiative was that a center for ornamental
plant germplasm conservation be established in Ohio and that
funding for the new center be directed through the ARS.
Dr. Jim Corfield was hired as Interim Director in November,
1999 to oversee startup of the germplasm center, and daily
operations began in the spring of 2001 with the hiring of
Director David Tay and Curator Susan Stieve.

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5. The OPGC is located on the Columbus campus of The Ohio State
University. Their facility includes office space, a small laboratory,
seed processing workspace, a seed vault, greenhouses, and outdoor
planting areas, including a nursery in a nearby research farm.
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6.  Conserve genetically-diverse herbaceous plant germplasm and
associated information
 Conduct germplasm-related research
 Crop improvement and product development
enhance scientific research
floriculture and nursery industry
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8. Facilities:
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10. The Ornamental Plant Germplasm Center
(OPGC) preserves the genetic diversity of
herbaceous ornamental crop plants through
the dedicated effort of its staff, students and
stakeholders. The Center, located within the
Columbus campus of The Ohio State
University, is hosted by the Department of
Horticulture and Crop Science. Physical
facilities and human resources complement
each other in fulfilling the Center's
mission. Since its founding in 2001, the
OPGC has sought to conserve and develop
germplasm of value to the Floriculture and
Nursery industry.
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12. The OPGC holds approximately 5,000 accessions within about 200
genera and about 1000 species of herbaceous ornamental plants
that are distributed to investigators, breeders, and educators
worldwide upon request. The majority of these accessions are
conserved as seed, but significant collections
of Begonia and Pelargonium are maintained as clonal plants. Since
2007, the OPGC has dedicated 80% of its genebanking efforts to
developing and optimizing germplasm for 6 priority genera
(Begonia, Coreopsis, Lilium, Phlox, Rudbeckia and Viola).
As these collections mature, new priorities are established in consultation
with the Herbaceous Ornamentals Crop Germplasm Committee, a national
group that meets yearly to assess the germplasm needs of herbaceous
ornamentals.
•Request Germplasm
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13. •Collecting, documenting and conserving
genetic variation present in ornamentals and
their wild relatives
•Exchanging germplasm domestically and
internationally to broaden the genetic base of
herbaceous ornamental crops
•Identifying and evaluating useful genetic traits
desired by the industry and consumers
•Providing germplasm to researchers in
industry, universities, botanical gardens, and
other institutions for developing improved
ornamentals
•Identifying methods for successful long-term
storage of ornamental germplasm
The OPGC assists plant researchers, the
scientific community, plant breeders and
consumers by:
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14. Access to a diverse germplasm pool is crucial
for the successful incorporation of novel traits
in commercial ornamental crops. Until
recently, most breeding programs have
focused primarily on aesthetic qualities
resulting in an inadvertent erosion and
narrowing of genetic diversity of many
economically important ornamental crops.
This narrowed genetic base has increased the
vulnerability of the crops to, for example,
epidemic disease and has potentially limited
our ability for further improvement of
ornamental crops.
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15. The OPGC undertakes
regular plant
explorations in the
USA, searching for
native species that may
be incorporated into the
germplasm collection.
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17. •Priority Genera
Begonia:
The genus Begonia may be the largest among
Angiosperms as it consists of approximately
1,500 species and many more hybrids and
cultivars. Together with Hillebrandia, it makes
up the family Begoniaceae in the order
Cucurbitales. Begonia species are herbaceous
plants distributed primarily in moist
environments of tropical and subtropical areas
of Central and South America, Africa, and
southern Asia. The plants are grown for colorful
flowers, attractive foliage and striking forms.
The genus represents one of the most important
floriculture crops worldwide.
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18.  Coreopsis:
Coreopsis is a North American native genus of
approximately 25 species in the Asteraceae. They are
popular annual and perennial ornamental plants because
of colorful and abundant flowers. Recent breeding
activity with this genus has given rise to numerous new
cultivars displaying a wide variety of flower colors.
 Lilium:
Lilium is a genus of herbaceous flowering plants growing
from bulbs. Most species are native to the temperate
northern hemisphere. They comprise a genus of about 110
species in the lily family (Liliaceae).
They are important as large showy flowering garden
plants. Additionally, they are important culturally and in
literature in much of the world. Some species are
sometimes grown or harvested for the edible bulbs.
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19.  Phlox
Phlox is a genus of 65 species indigenous to North
America; 22 highly variable species are native to the
central and eastern United States. These species are
classified into three clades based on phylogeny,
karyology and phenotypic characteristics.
Rudbeckia is a genus of about 23 species native to North
America, commonly called coneflowers or black-eyed
susans. These herbaceous plants are members of the
Asteraceae and are among the mosre popular native
garden plants grown for showy yellow flowers.
 Rudbeckia
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20. The genus Viola includes the highly popular
garden pansies and violets. The genus is quite
large, consisting of approximately 500 species
included in the family Violaceae and distributed
worldwide. We are focusing on Viola species from
the old world (Europe primarily) because these
include the progenitors of the cultivated pansies
and violas.
Viola
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22.  Previous Projects
Research activities at the OPGC have
centered on optimization on germplasm-
related activities involving seeds, pollinators,
and genotyping for identification of core
collections. Investigations have also been
conducted on improved growing conditions
for selected crops such as Begonia.
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23. Current Projects Identification of Lepidoptera pollinators for phlox to be
used in seed production schemes.
Seed production in begonia species associated with the
development of common cultivated forms.
Development of a germplasm collection for Phlox and
analysis of interspecific hybridization among Eastern USA
taxa
Field characterization of Rudbeckia and Coreopsis
germplasm
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24.  Undergraduate Research Opportunities:
The OPGC offers numerous research opportunities for
undergraduate students. Research projects vary widely,
encompassing a range of required skills and challenges.
If interested in research, contact the Director of the
OPGC, Pablo Jourdan (jourdan.1@osu.edu) Below are
some examples of projects that could be pursued by
undergraduate students; each project has a main topic
and associated questions
1. Selection for heat tolerance in Viola seedlings
2. Response of seedlings to ethylene.
3. Seed dormancy in native species, like Rudbeckia fulgida
4. Propagation and fertility studies in Arabis patens - one of
the rarest plants in Ohio
5. Can seeds of Begonia be stored for long times under
freezing conditions?
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25.  Student Employment
The OPGC frequently hires students for work during the
academic year and in the summer. Working at the OPGC
provides students with an opportunity to learn about
many horticultural procedures, but also learn about the
process of research and scholarship. Students assist in all
aspects of the OPGC operations: watering plants in the
greenhouse and nursery, taking cuttings for propagation,
processing seed, assessing seed germination, preparing
media for plant tissue culture, making transfers for
micropropagated plants, monitoring greenhouse pests,
transplanting plants in the field, photographing plants,
taking x-ray pictures of seeds, making pollinations between
different plants, preparing herbarium specimens, entering
data into computer databases, assisting in various other
experiments, etc.
Students interested in employment, an internship or just
volunteering are encouraged to contact the Director,
Pablo Jourdan (jourdan.1@osu.edu) to arrange a meeting
and discuss interests and plans.
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26. Students can work up to 30 hours per week during the academic year, but most of our student employees
work no more than 20 hours per week. We accommodate students' variable class schedules, but we prefer
workers who have at least some days with blocks of 3 or more hours for work as some duties are best done in
a single uninterrupted period.
We offer a flexible, comfortable, and friendly work
environment, but we expect our students to work as
developing professionals by focusing on tasks when at
work and working as efficiently as possible. We expect
students to adhere to their work schedule and to
communicate with the staff should last-minute changes
occur. We are particularly interested in students who
want to learn and grow as future professionas in land-
based industries (crops science, horticulture, turfgrass
science, natural resources, etc). We also offer an
excellent environment for those students who may be
considering graduate school as we have numerous
research projects that can prepare a student for further
education.
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27.  Student Employment
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28.  How you can help?
Although basic operational support for the OPGC is provided by the USDA-ARS and The Ohio State
University, we depend on contributions from the industry and interested individuals for a variety of activities that
help us fulfill our mission.
Under certain situations, we accept donation of plant
materials (either seeds or plants) to become part of
our collection of germplasm that is shared with other
professionals and with the floriculture and nursery
industry.
We are also initiating a program to support student work
at the OPGC, a unique learning opportunity for
undergraduates.
In addition, we encourage 'adoption' of a species for conservation and sustainable utilization.
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30. The location of the OPGC at a University
provides an ideal opportunity for students to
learn about ex situ plant conservation, seed
banks, germplasm enhancement, seed
biology, tissue culture, and many other
modern as well as classical horticultural
techniques. In conjunction with The Ohio State
University's "Students First, Students Now"
initiative, the OPGC is establishing scholarship
funds to support students to work and learn at
the OPGC.
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31.  One of the students working at the OPGC has stated:
"As a student working at the OPGC I've had the
opportunity to work with PhD candidate Peter Zale who
heads-out the collection of the Phlox genera. I've
harvested both seed and cuttings from field acquisitions
and grown them on. I've studied germination rates and the
morphologies of several species. We are using
pollinations to track seed increase. Working here is like
having a parallel education that supplements many things
I've learned in the classrom including botany, biology and
plant propagation. This is an unique learning environment
that uses many techniques that will be useful for me in the
trade." Elizabeth Reeder.
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