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Taxonomic Information on Cultivated Plants in GRIN-Global




Basis of GRIN-Global Taxonomic Decisions

National Germplasm Resources Laboratory National Germplasm Resources Laboratory botanists are responsible for maintaining the taxonomic and nomenclatural integrity of the scientific names in GRIN-Global. NGRL maintains an active collection of monographic and floristic literature from throughout the world to assist our activities. Through ongoing research into current taxonomic literature, consultations with taxonomic botanists, and systematic reviews of GRIN scientific names for various plant families, the most recent taxonomy and nomenclature are incorporated into GRIN-Global. For major crop genera, GRIN-Global taxonomic work may often involve interaction with other USDA scientists for those crops and their Crop Germplasm Committees (CGC).

The taxonomic and nomenclatural decisions accepted in GRIN-Global are based on various considerations. GRIN-Global family taxonomy is based, with a few more recent exceptions, on the APG-IV classification (Chase et al., 2016). Taxonomic decisions at lesser ranks ideally reflect the views of recognized taxonomic specialists for various plant groups as determined from published literature, such as monographs, revisions, or contributed treatments to floras, or from direct consultation for review of GRIN-Global taxonomic information. Evidence from molecular phylogenetic studies, which is particularly relevant to decisions regarding generic taxonomy but seldom affects species-level decisions, is also taken into account. Evaluating any proposed changes from such studies in relation to existing GRIN-Global generic taxonomy, while nonetheless challenging, is guided by an assessment of the range of evidence presented, including the completeness of sampling, and the extent to which recognized specialists are participants in the underlying research or have embraced its conclusions. When a specialist opinion or specialist-generated literature is lacking, taxonomic decisions, particularly at species level, are based on the floristic literature. Floras are generally assigned greater weight than checklists, and modern floras are given greater consideration than older ones in preparing the GRIN treatment.

Other considerations being equal, when there are differences in taxonomic treatment or nomenclatural disputes, the GRIN-Global treatment would generally be guided by current usage, with some evaluation of the effect of a change to our users and to the internal consistency of our treatment. In serving the agricultural scientists of NPGS, it is especially necessary to consider usage among agronomists and horticulturalists in addition to that of taxonomists. A requirement, however, is that all nomenclature adhere to the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature (McNeill et al., 2012).

Nomenclatural problems or discrepancies that appear and are unresolved in the literature often require that original references be consulted. Species records now have a protologue link field that we are using to add links to publicly available digitized works, such as those available through the Biodiversity Heritage Library. In addition, the location of the NGRL on the Beltsville Agricultural Research Center, about 24 km northeast of Washington, D.C., also facilitates this work by providing access to several excellent libraries for historical and current botanical literature, including the National Agricultural Library (NAL), Library of Congress (LC), Smithsonian Institution (SI), and University of Maryland. The wealth of online botanical resources has now become indispensable for this purpose, especially those resources made available through the Biodiversity Heritage Library, the Digital Library del Real Jardín Botánico, the Gallica Digital Library, and Google Books.



International Rice Genebank Germplasm Distribution and Exchange Policy


IRRI continues the free international exchange of germplasm, in accordance with the International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA). We provide rice in small quantities to any entity or establishment for research, breeding, or training for food and agriculture purposes; free of charge. At the same time, we gratefully receive seed contributions to add to our collection.

The procedure for acquiring seeds from IRRI are as follows:
1. Read, study and comply with Standard Material Transfer Agreement(SMTA).
2. Inquire, search and choose accessions through GRIN-Global or Genesys websites.
3. Submit requests electronically through the public websites (refer to #2)


Software Disclaimer

This software was created by USDA/ARS, with Bioversity International coordinating testing and feedback from the international genebank community. Development was supported financially by USDA/ARS and by a major grant from the Global Crop Diversity Trust. This statement by USDA does not imply approval of these enterprises to the exclusion of others which might also be suitable.

USDA dedicates this software to the public, anyone may use, copy, modify, publish, distribute, perform publicly and display publicly this software. Notice of this access as well as the other paragraphs in this notice shall be included in all copies or modifications of this software.

This software application has not been tested or otherwise examined for suitability for implementation on, or compatibility with, any other computer systems. USDA does not warrant, either explicitly or implicitly, that this software program will not cause damage to the user’s computer or computer operating system, nor does USDA warrant, either explicitly or implicitly, the effectiveness of the software application.

The English text above shall take precedence in the event of any inconsistencies between the English text and any translation of this notice.

Last updated: 2 July, 2020