Germplasm Resources Information Network or GRIN is an online
USDA National Genetic Resources Program software project to comprehensively manage the computer database for the holdings of all plant
germplasm collected by the
National Plant Germplasm System.
GRIN has extended its role to manage information on the germplasm reposits of insect (
invertebrate),
microbial
A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...
, and animal species (see
sub-projects).
[
]
Description
The site is a resource for identifying taxonomic
Taxonomy is the practice and science of categorization or classification.
A taxonomy (or taxonomical classification) is a scheme of classification, especially a hierarchical classification, in which things are organized into groups or types. ...
information (scientific names) as well as common names on more than 500,000 accessions (distinct varieties, cultivars
A cultivar is a type of Horticulture, cultivated plant that people have selected for desired phenotypic trait, traits and when Plant propagation, propagated retain those traits. Methods used to propagate cultivars include: division, root and st ...
etc.) of plants covering 10,000 species;[ It gives 450,000 accessions (outdated; GRIN gives 500,000 as of June 2012).] both economically important ones[ and wild species. It profiles plants that are invasive or noxious weeds,][ threatened or endangered,][ giving out data on worldwide distribution][ of its habitat; as well as passport information.] GRIN also incorporates an Economic Plants Database.[
The network is maintained by GRIN's Database Management Unit (GRIN/DBMU).] GRIN is under the oversight of National Germplasm Resources Laboratory (NGRL) in Beltsville, Maryland,[ which in 1990 replaced its forerunner, the Germplasm Services Laboratory (GSL),][ that had formerly run GRIN.] Since November, 2015 GRIN has been running on GRIN-Global software produced by a collaborative project between the USDA and the Global Crop Diversity Trust.
Sub-projects
A stated mission of GRIN is to support the following projects:
* National Plant Germplasm System (NPGS)
* National Animal Germplasm Program (NAGP)
* National Microbial Germplasm Program (NMGP)
* National Invertebrate Germplasm Program (NIGP)
See also
* Natural Resources Conservation Service
Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), formerly known as the Soil Conservation Service (SCS), is an agency of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) that provides technical assistance to farmers and other private landowners an ...
* Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database
Multilingual Multiscript Plant Name Database (MMPND) is a multilingual database of names of taxa of plants.
It is located at the University of Melbourne and it is managed and maintained by Michel H. Porcher. This database includes the names of ta ...
* International Plant Names Index
* List of electronic Floras
{{expand list, date=May 2018
This list of electronic Floras is arranged by country within continent. An electronic Flora is an online resource which provides descriptions of the associated plants, often also providing identification keys, or parti ...
(for online flora databases).
References
External links
*
* The NRCS also maintains th
PLANT database
{{authority control
Genetics organizations
United States Department of Agriculture
Biodiversity databases
Online taxonomy databases
Year of establishment missing