The USDA Acquires New Switchgrass Germplasm.

Switchgrass, Panicum virgatum L., is a highly productive perennial warm season grass native to the United States.  Efforts to expand switchgrass germplasm available in the U.S. Department of Agriculture, National Plant Germplasm System have resulted in the completion of several collection trips funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Plant Exchange Office.  Two collection trips conducted in fall of 2008 and 2009 focused on the collection of germplasm in Florida.  These two collection efforts resulted in the collection of 60 accessions from 26 counties in Florida.  Collections were made in diverse habitats ranging from swamps to pine flatwoods and included morphologically diverse plant phenotypes.  In 2012, a third collection trip was competed along the Atlantic coast in the southeastern U.S. covering Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina.   A total of 27 switchgrass populations were collected.  The majority of these populations were collected from Georgia (14) and North Carolina (10).  A fourth collection trip along the Gulf coast covering the states of Alabama, Mississippi and Louisiana was completed in 2013.  In addition to the southern adapted material, donations from NRCS collected in the northeastern U.S. have further expanded the genetic diversity of the collection.  Passport data and plant descriptions are available on the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Germplasm Resources Information Network (GRIN).  Regeneration of this newly acquired material is a top priority.  Recent collaborations with private and government entities has facilitated the regeneration of the material enabling earlier availability of the material.