Project Baseline, a living plant genome reserve for the study of evolution

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The purpose of this project is to create a national scientific resource: the first genome reserve of seeds specifically designed to allow investigation of how plants respond to environmental change over long periods of time. Seeds will be collected from approximately 80 species throughout the U.S., along with population, environmental and climatic data, and stored at the USDA National Center for Genetic Resources Preservation for future use by evolutionary biologists.To protect biodiversity and preserve our national resources, it is critical to understand how species will adapt to changing climates. Many species are already changing, as evidenced by patterns of earlier flowering in the spring. One powerful way to determine if such changes are due to adaptive evolution is to raise ancestors and descendents side by side under common conditions. However, the fortuitous conditions that allow viable seeds to persist over time and be resurrected from the soil are rare. This project will create a planned collection of seeds that will allow future studies of evolution in response to global change. With this project, we will create a seed 'time capsule' that will allow future biologists to dissect the genetic basis of evolutionary change. In addition, during the course of seed collection, many undergraduate students, graduate students and post-doctoral scholars will be trained in plant population biology and conservation.