The sum total of the genetic or hereditary materials in a species.
Germplasm refers to genetic resources such as seeds, tissues, and DNA sequences that are maintained for the purpose of animal and plant breeding, conservation efforts, agriculture, and other research uses. These resources may take the form of seed collections stored in seed banks, trees growing in nurseries, animal breeding lines maintained in animal breeding programs or gene banks. Germplasm collections can range from collections of wild species to elite, domesticated breeding lines that have undergone extensive human selection. Germplasm collection is important for the maintenance of biological diversity, food security, and conservation efforts.
In the United States, germplasm resources are regulated by the National Genetic Resources Program (NGRP), created by the U.S. congress in 1990. In addition the web server The Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN) provides information about germplasms as they pertain to agriculture production.
English
Etymology
From germ + plasm. But compare germ plasm.
Noun
germplasm (countable and uncountable, plural germplasms)
- Seeds or tissues maintained for the purpose of animal or plant breeding, preservation or other research uses.
- 1989, Zhang Yihua, Dong Yushen, Development of Research on Crop Germplasm Resources in China, Lloyd Knutson, Allan K. Stoner (editors), Biotic Diversity and Germplasm Preservation, Global Imperatives, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Beltsville Symposia in Agricultural Research 13, page 125,
- A good beginning has been made in joint surveys of Chinese germplasm resources by Chinese and foreign scientists.
- 2000, R. K. Singh, et al., 9: Small and Medium Grained Aromatic Rices of India, R. K.
