North Carolina Arboretum Germplasm Repository, The

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United States of America - North Carolina - Asheville

Institution Code:

BGCI Member: No

About the North Carolina Arboretum Germplasm Repository, The

TNCAGR collaborates with researchers to aid with the supply and long-term storage of these medicinal and nutriceutical plants for research and conservation.
In addition to seed collection and storage TNCAGR is also developing an endophyte germplasm collection. The goals of this project will be to develop methods for the isolation, culture, purification, characterization, and long-term storage of fungi and algae endophytes from both terrestrial and marine environments in NC. Endophytic fungi have developed the biochemical ability to produce compounds similar or identical to those produced by their host plant as a result of gene recombination during the evolutionary process (Zhang et al., 2006). As a result bioactive products hold enormous potential for future product development purposes. The repository will be one of the first endophyte fungal collections for the development of future source material in the U.S. All plants are hosts to endophytes but relatively few have been studied. Endophytic fungi have recently been associated with significant biological activity in many medicinal taxa including but not limited to Hypericum perforatum, Camtotheca acuminate, Taxus sp., Echinacea sp., Gingko biloba, Catharanthus roseus, Podophyllum peltatum, and Artemisia annua (Gunatilaka, 2006). Isolated endophytes have exhibited significant activity as antibiotics, antivirals, anticancer, antioxidant, antidiabetic, immunosuppressive, and anti-insecticidal agents. Collection efforts will be focused on terrestrial and marine plants and algae.

Main Address:
North Carolina Arboretum Germplasm Repository, The
The North Carolina Arboretum
100 Frederick Law Olmsted Way
Asheville
North Carolina 28806 United States of America

Telephone: (828) 665-2492
Fax:
URL: www.ncarboretum.org
Primary Email:

Staff Details

  • Director's Name: Dr. Joe Ann McCoy
    Curator's Name:
    Plant Records Officer's Name:

About the Garden

  • Institution Type: Gene/Seed Bank
  • Physical Data
  • Latitude: 35.6009450
    Longitude: -82.5540150
    Altitude: 0.00 Metres

Features and Facilities

  • Arboretum: Yes
  • Seed Bank: Yes
    Computer Plant Record System: Yes
  • Open to public: Yes
    Friends society: Yes
    Retail Outlet: Shop: Yes

Plant Collections

Conservation Programmes

Research Programmes

Education Programmes