Genetics and Germplasm Working Group (GG)

GG is part of the American Society for Horticultural Science (ASHS)

Minutes (2007 meeting)

  • Genetics and Germplasm Working Group Business Meeting
  • American Society for Horticultural Science Annual Conference
  • Scottsdale, Arizona
  • July, 2007

Attendees

Nahla Bassil, Todd Wehner, Ann Marie Thro, Tim Ng, Margaret Pooler, Susan Wiegrefe, John Stommel, Phil Simon, Gal Sapir, Linda Wessel-Beaver, Mark Farnham, Kevin Crosby.

Officers

Maria Jenderek (chair), Beiquan Mou (chair-elect), Nahla Bassil (secretary).

Agenda

  • Minutes
    • The meeting was called to order by Maria Jenderek. The minutes of the 2006 business meeting were circulated and approved. The minutes were posted at a website maintained by Dr. Todd Wehner at NC State University, (http://cuke.hort.ncsu.edu/cucurbit/gg/ggmain.html).
  • GGWG-sponsored events at the 2007 meeting
    • Sponsored events for 2007 were a colloquium on ‘Transgenic Horticultural Crops: Challenges and Opportunities’, and a workshop on ‘Germplasm and Crop Improvement for Semi-arid and Arid Land Horticulture’.
  • GGWG-supported activities at future ASHS annual meetings
    • The deadline for colloquium proposals is August 2008. The biotechnology working group is sponsoring a colloquium for 2009 on ‘Application of Genomics to Real-Life Horticultural Problems’, and would like GG to co-sponsor.
  • Plant Breeding Coordinating Committee
    • Linda Wessel-Beaver gave an overview of the Plant Breeding CC. The CC will be promoting federal support for public plant breeding. Subcommittees have been formed to deal with the major areas of interest. Next meeting will be hosted by Monsanto in Iowa in June. Participation is encouraged in the CC activities. Visit the website at ?
  • Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources
    • Maria Jenderek distributed information about the Frank N. Meyer Medal for Plant Genetic Resources. Nominations were sought for the tri-society award that recognizes a person with an outstanding record of service over a long period of time in exploration, evaluation, preservation, or administrative foresight of plant genetic resources. Nomination for the 2008 award is due in April.
  • Plant Exploration and Exchange funding
    • Beiquan Mou provided an overview of the plant exploration grant and germplasm exchange funding. Proposals are due July 2007 for 2008. Contact plant exchange office for proposal preparation in February. You will need a letter of support from the Crop Genetics Committee of the crop of interest. Germplasm will be deposited into the germplasm system, so a letter of support from the regional curator would be useful as well. A collaborator in the foreign country is useful.
  • Germplasm Evaluation Funding
    • Funding for germplasm evaluation is usually announced in July for proposals due in the fall for funding the following year. Proposals must be submitted through the crop genetics committee for the crop of interest. Amounts are usually $15,000/year.
  • Other Business
    • There will be a symposium in the Czech Republic May 26-30, 2008 on ‘Woody Ornamentals of the Temperate Zone’.
    • The Crop Science Society of America is looking for topics for 2009 in the area of germplasm resources, perhaps including horticultural topics of interest.
    • Is there interest in having a limit on the number of workshops to prevent overlap? This would mean that working groups could have only one workshop every other year. It was moved and seconded that we have alternate-year workshops; the motion passed unanimously.
  • Working group leadership
    • Gayle Volk was nominated and unanimously elected as the secretary of the working group, congratulations!
  • The meeting was adjourned.