4. General Information

Passport Data
Glossary of Terms

Passport Data

In addition to crop specific descriptors, all accessions in the pcGRIN database are described by passport descriptors that are not crop dependent. These descriptors include the historical information received with the accession at the time of introduction such as:

• cultivar name
• donor or collector information
• taxonomy
• pedigree

These descriptors may also be used as search criteria. Here is the list of Passport descriptors:

• ACELLO means elevation
• ACNO means ID Number
• ACP means ID Prefix
• ACS means ID Suffix
• ACYCOL means the year the accession was collected
• COLLSRC means source of the collected material
• COLL_NUM means the collector number
• CULTIVAR means the cultivar name
• EVQNAM means the environment name
• GEOCTY means the country name
• GEOSTA means the state/province name
• LAT means the latitude (decimal notation)
• LNAME means last name of a cooperator
• LOCAL_NAME means the local name
• LON means Longitude (decimal notation)
• ORG means institute or organization of a cooperator
• RYPIA means year PI number assigned
• RYRECD means year received
• SAMPSTAT means status of the accession
• SIDID means secondary identifier

Glossary of Terms

Accession

Recognized unique genetic material maintained at a collection site. This material includes samples from wild populations, plants of a particular cultivar or other improved germplasm, or tissue cultures. Each accession is given a unique primary identifier, in GRIN, it is usually a Plant Introduction number (PI number).

CGC

Crop Germplasm Committee. A generic name for a specific working group of specialists from public and private sectors that provide analysis, data, and advice about germplasm for a specific crop or group of related crops of present or future economic importance. For example, there are CGC’s for Citrus, Leafy Vegetables, and Wheat.

Control

The Control key <Ctrl> is used in combination with other keys to produce "control characters". This is done by holding down the Control key while simultaneously pressing another key. These control characters have special meaning to the computer.

Control-End

Pressing both the keys <Ctrl><End> at the same time, tells the system to accept the choices made and to go to the next screen.

Database

A collection of related information or data organized for easy storage, retrieval, and access.

DBMU

DataBase Management Unit (DBMU). A staff of computer specialists and plant scientists. Ours is located at the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Plant Sciences Institute, National Germplasm Resources Laboratory. The DBMU is responsible for maintaining the GRIN and pcGRIN systems, keeping the database in operation, making modifications to software as necessary, and providing assistance when requested. The DBMU can be contacted at:

Descriptor

Any data field in the database. There are three kinds of descriptors: Passport, Crop Specific, and Inventory. Passport descriptors include historical information received with an accession at the time of introduction and are not crop dependent. In contrast, a crop specific descriptor is a physiological or morphological characteristic that is evaluated for a specific crop or group of related crops. Crop Specific descriptors are determined and defined by the crop curator, you, or, in GRIN, by the specific CGC. This descriptor may have a coded value (for example, "Y" for yellow, "1" for susceptible) or an actual value (for example, 173 = days to anthesis, 41.1 = percent protein

GRIN

Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN). GRIN is a genebank management system for the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service, Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, Beltsville, Maryland. GRIN is a database system developed to preserve and distribute information about plant germplasm throughout the NPGS and to any plant scientist, breeder, or research organization nationally and internationally.

Germplasm

Genetic resources (germplasm) are the raw genetic material required by breeders and researchers for development of improved cultivars and other research. Genetic diversity includes gene heritability and variability and is found in wild species, local landraces, heirloom varieties, and adapted cultivars.

Identifier

Any of the names, numbers, or alphanumeric character strings used to distinguish a taxon, accession, or inventory sample. These include scientific names (binomial and trinomial); primary accession identifiers (ACP, ACNO); secondary identifiers such as donor identifiers, collector numbers, crop registry numbers, or other institute identifiers; cultivar names; and inventory identifiers (IVP, IVNO, IVS, IVT).

Maintenance Site

Any unit designated to maintain and distribute plant germplasm. In pcGRIN, these sites also include those that participate in germplasm information handling or storage. Also called collection sites.

NPGS

National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS). "Provides the genetic diversity necessary to improve crop productivity and to reduce genetic vulnerability in future food and agriculture development, not only in the United States but for the entire world. NPGS acquires, maintains, evaluates, and makes readily accessible to plant scientists a wide range of genetic diversity in the form of seed and clonal germplasm of crops and potential new crops."—NPGS Mission Statement, April 1981.

Character/Evaluation Data

Visual, genetic, morphological, pathogen and pest reactions, agronomic performance, chemical composition, and molecular traits of an accession. In the GRIN database, each crop or group of related crops is evaluated for a specific list of descriptors (crop specific descriptors). These character/evaluation data include.

Passport Data

Contains the basic information that should accompany an accession on introduction to a genebank. These data include initial taxonomy, cultivar name, where collected, pedigree, reported attributes, and other information about where, when, and by whom the accession was collected in the wild or developed. This information is accessible through the Accession Option.

pcGRIN

pcGRIN started as a query-only version of GRIN that included data about one or more crops, with the data residing on a personal computer (PC). pcGRIN with GRIN data was, and can still be, sent on floppy diskettes or can be downloaded off the Internet at the following address:

http://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs

pcGRIN can also be used as an information system for managing the data of genebanks, collections, and germplasm centers and and can do everything that can be done by the GRIN system.

PI

PI stands for the Plant Introduction number of the NPGS. It is a serial number assigned by the Plant Exchange Office (PEO), Beltsville, Maryland, to germplasm accessions introduced into NPGS. The first PI number was assigned in 1898. PI 600000 was assigned in 1997.

Search Criteria

Data specifications that determine which accessions are retrieved from the database. Search criteria consist of a descriptor name, comparison operator, and value (code). For example, GEOCTY = Peru, where GEOCTY is the descriptor name, = (equals) is the comparison operator, and Peru is the value being sought.

Select

The primary process to retrieve accessions and their associated data from the database as specified by search criteria. The search criteria are entered from within the Select Option. Select displays a running count of accessions that are checked and those that match the specified criteria.