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Title: New additions to the National Plant Germplasm System’s Beta collection: Southern Morocco expedition

Author
item Hellier (ctr), Barbara
item PANELLA, LEE - Beet Sugar Development Foundation
item EL BAHLOUL, YASMINA - National Institute Of Agronomy, Food Science And Environment (AGROSUP)
item QARIOUH, NAIMA - National Institute Of Agronomy, Food Science And Environment (AGROSUP)

Submitted to: American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 12/16/2010
Publication Date: 3/2/2011
Citation: Hellier, B.C., Panella, L.W., El Bahloul, Y., Qariouh, N. 2011. New additions to the National Plant Germplasm System’s Beta collection: Southern Morocco expedition. American Society of Sugar Beet Technologists. 36th General Meeting, Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA. March 2-5, 2011.

Interpretive Summary: The USDA Agricultural Research Service’s National Plant Germplasm System’s (NPGS) Beta collection is comprised of 2,541 accessions from 14 species. The largest number of accessions is from Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris, (domesticated beet crops – table, leaf (Swiss chard), fodder and, primarily, sugar beets) and Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima (sea beet, the progenitor and wild relative of domesticated beet). Beta accessions in this collection originate from 54 countries worldwide. Accessions of wild sea beet, Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima, a source of resistance genes for cultivated beet, are well represented from locations along the northern Mediterranean coast and up the Atlantic coast into Norway. Collections from wild populations along the southern Mediterranean coast and down the northern African Atlantic coast are not well represented, and were completely lacking from Morocco. The 2010 NPGS funded expedition to the southern Atlantic coast of Morocco yielded 16 new accessions of Beta vulgaris ssp maritima and 15 of Patellifolia patellaris (previously Beta patellaris), which is part of the tertiary gene pool for sugar beet. These accessions represent the southernmost locations from which Beta germplasm in gene banks has been collected to date. In addition to seed, habitat data, geographic coordinates, images, and herbarium samples were collected to document the new accessions. Collection locations ranged from 0 to 416 meters elevation from the coastal and semi-desert scrub ecosystems.

Technical Abstract: The USDA Agricultural Research Service’s National Plant Germplasm System’s (NPGS) Beta collection is comprised of 2,541 accessions from 14 species. The largest number of accessions is from Beta vulgaris ssp. vulgaris, (domesticated beet crops – table, leaf (Swiss chard), fodder and, primarily, sugar beets) and Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima (sea beet, the progenitor and wild relative of domesticated beet). Beta accessions in this collection originate from 54 countries worldwide. Accessions of wild sea beet, Beta vulgaris ssp. maritima, a source of resistance genes for cultivated beet, are well represented from locations along the northern Mediterranean coast and up the Atlantic coast into Norway. Collections from wild populations along the southern Mediterranean coast and down the northern African Atlantic coast are not well represented, and were completely lacking from Morocco. The 2010 NPGS funded expedition to the southern Atlantic coast of Morocco yielded 16 new accessions of Beta vulgaris ssp maritima and 15 of Patellifolia patellaris (previously Beta patellaris), which is part of the tertiary gene pool for sugar beet. These accessions represent the southernmost locations from which Beta germplasm in gene banks has been collected to date. In addition to seed, habitat data, geographic coordinates, images, and herbarium samples were collected to document the new accessions. Collection locations ranged from 0 to 416 meters elevation from the coastal and semi-desert scrub ecosystems.