ARS | Publication request: HISTORY OF APIC AND THE INITIATIVE TO CREATE COMPREHENSIVE DATABASES

Submitted to: Proceedings of the Global Conference on Potato
Publication Type: Proceedings
Publication Acceptance Date: December 31, 1999
Publication Date: N/A

Technical Abstract: Since 1990, the Association of Intergenebank Collaborators (APIC) has been working on projects of common interest to potato genebanks. An Internet-accessible database of passport and evaluation data for wild species is now complete. The latest version of the Intergenebank Potato Database (IPD) for evaluation is comprised of 5,603 records contributed by NRSP-6 (2,600), BGRC-CGN (1343), GLKS (1201), CIP (389), and CPC (70). Data are available for more than 33,000 evaluations of wild potato accessions maintained in five potato genebanks. Many other goals related to potato genetic resources conservation are being pursued: 1) International cooperation for thorough collecting of under-explored areas; 2) safety back-ups located in at least in two different genebanks; 3) a single DNA probe for the detection of all true seed-transmitted potato viruses and viroids; 4) continued evaluation for desirable traits; 5) increase of pre-breeding work that puts valuable traits in a form useful to breeders; 6) protection of geographical areas where wild species are found in nature; and 7) genebank research that reveals the status and dynamics of genetic diversity.