USDA
USDA/ARS/NGRL
The activities of the National Germplasm Resources Lab help the National Genetic Resources Program (NGRP) provide a continuous flow of genes from source to end use, a continuum that keeps high-yielding varieties on the market; improves the quality of agricultural products; minimizes production costs; reduces dependence on pesticides, thus enhances the quality of the environment; and minimizes the vulnerability of agriculturally important germplasm to pests and environmental stresses. There are three sections to the National Germplasm Resources Laboratory, the Database Management Unit, which manages the GRIN animal, plant, microbial and invertebrate databases; and the Plant Exchange Office, which develops methods to prioritize U.S. germplasm needs, procure plant germplasm through international and domestic exchanges, arrange for and participate in international and domestic plant explorations, and develops in situ maintenance programs for crop plants and their wild relatives, and the Plant Disease Research Unit, which studies pathogens that infect economically important plant germplasm to help facilitate the safe introduction and exchange of plant genetic resources. Summary provided by: http://www.ars.usda.gov/main/site_main.htm?modecode=12751500