2007 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) This specific cooperative agreement has three important objectives: 1. To fingerprint and assess genetic diversity and relationships within and among elite germplasm, advanced selections, and officially released cultivars of grape, stonefruits, and nut crops maintained as virus-tested foundation stocks at the Foundation Plant Services (FPS), University of California, Davis. 2. To validate genetic fingerprints of grape germplasm maintained at the USDA National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NCGR), Davis by comparing them with the standard Vitis microsatellite fingerprint database maintained at the FPS. 3. Develop a registry of information on identity, disease testing status, characterization and acquistion sources of virtually all grape varieties and clones available with the United States. Establish and publicize the online registry as a user-friendly reference. Develop a plan for routinely updating the information to maintain relevance and value. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) Objective 1: Microsatellite and AFLP markers will be used to fingerprint foundation stocks of fruit and nut crops maintained at the FPS facility. Assays including fingerprinting activities will be performed at the USDA National Clonal Germplasm Repository's laboratory in collaboration with the repository's geneticist. Genescan and genotyper analyses will be performed on the raw microsatellite and AFLP data assembled by the data collection software used with the ABI Prism 310 and 3100 genetic analyzers. The data thus generated will be added to the GRIN database and also be used along with data from the germplasm maintained at the repository to analyze for the overall genetic diversity and differentiation within and among different gene pools. Objective 2: The microsatellite fingerprint data generated on the Vitis collection maintained at the NCGR will be compared with the standard fingerprint database of Vitis maintained at the FPS. A standard set of grape cultivars will be included in all genetic analyzer runs to minimize variation among runs and analyses. Genotyper results are verified for the accuracy of allele calling or binning of each allele in the samples to establish the identity of each allele and genotype. The resultant data is compared with the standard grape fingerprint database maintained at the FPS. Data across genotypes and runs are merged into a spreadsheet format ready for analyses. Objective 3: A full time staff member at the National Clonal Germplasm Repository will be dedicated to the development of the National Grape Registry (NGR). The staff member will collect and assemble variety information, develop the registry framework, develop an NGR website, and post variety information to that website. The registry will be posted on-line as a searchable, relational data set, using Microsoft Access or Oracle as the underlying software. Guidance on software selection and the website structure will be actively sought from diverse experts by the library scientist/database manager. We are committed to developing an extremely user-friendly site, which will be kept up to date through frequent revisions. Invitations for participation and data from grape collections and publicity regarding availability of these data will be made semiannually or annually through a wide array of relevant venues. Documents SCA with UC Davis. 3.Progress Report This report documents research conducted on project 5306-21000-015-06S. Iberian Study: Initial data generated in 2005 for over 100 NCGR accessions of presumed Iberian origin using a standard set of 8 SSR markers. Generated additional data to resolve discrepancies and include other accessions as indicated by analysis of previous data. Formatted and annotated all data to facilitate collaboration with the national grape germplasm collections in Dois Portos, Portugal and El Encin, Spain. Initiated procedures to integrate results of this collaboration with decisions regarding curation of NCGR-D grape collection. Afghanistan Study: Generated genetic profiles for 65 NCGR-D accessions of presumed Afghan origin using a standard set of 8 SSR markers. Compared resulting profiles within the study set and to a standard database of reference profiles. Genetic profiles were also compared to profiles of over 50 newly acquired accessions from Turkmenistan. Malvasia and Greek: Generated genetic profiles for 35 NCGR-D accessions associated with the general grape/wine name "Malvasia." This is a continuation of a collaborative project with Italian researchers. Norton Project: Generated genetic profiles for 30 NCGR-D accessions, including 18 cultivated hybrids and 12 accessions of wild Vitis aestavalis and compared to previous data for 364 accessions that includes 181 species in the Euvitis. Submission of an article documenting this work to a peered reviewed journal has been delayed to allow the inclusion of phenotypic observations that will be made this fall. New York Hybrid: Generated genetic profiles for 61 accessions from the NCGR-D, the NCGR-G and Cornell University grape breeding program, and Foundation Plant Services (FPS). Of the 61 accessions, 13 originated from NCGR-D, 17 from NCGR-G, 24 from Cornell and 7 from FPS to validate 24 parent/progeny groups and 2 synonym groups. Compared results to published pedigrees as well as other reference profile databases to document these important breeding programs. Also used parental analysis to compliment or in lieu of valid vouchers to address standard cultivar identification and other curatorial issues. Seedless Grapes: Genetic profiles are being generated for a group of 50 NCGR-D accessions that are known to be seedless. Resulting profiles within the study set, standard reference profiles and published data will be used to investigate the origins of seedlessness in grape, as well as other characteristics of grapes included in this study. Italian Study: Generated genetic profiles for 10 accessions from Italy with a total of 17 SSR markers, including a standard set of 8 SSR markers. The genetic profiles were used for fingerprinting. Ed Stover, Curator and Research Leader for the Davis-NCGR, is the ADODR for this project and is the PI for this work. He has monitored progress and directed efforts through frequent discussions via direct meetings, email, and phone. Data are regularly viewed and discussed and several reports have been developed and delivered. Several manuscripts resulting from these efforts will be submitted over the coming months.