PNL Volume 17 1985

GENE BANKS

THE PISUM CULTIVAR DATABASE; A RESOURCE

Winfield, P. J. and F. N. Breen Agricultural Scientific Services

Edinburgh, Scotland

The purpose of this note is to advertise the existence of a

database of pea cultivars and its associated software.

The Pisum Cultivar Database was created as an aid to cultivar

registration work in the United Kingdom. The database primarily holds

morphological and physiological data on 1350 cultivars and breeding

lines, including all those cultivars on the European (EEC) Common

Catalogue, those on the United Kingdom National List, and those entered

for registration or the awarding of Plant Breeders' Rights. Registered

material and material with Plant Breeders' Rights account for

approximately 750 of the 1350 lines. We also hold approximately 1380

seed accessions in our seed reference collection.

The database has approximately 70 morphological and physiological

descriptors plus passport information for each cultivar along with

further details concerning each seed accession. As far as possible, the

morphological characters describe the plant genotype. The descriptions

are based mainly on observations made over two years, 1983 and 1984. We

plan to grow the entire collection again in 1985 to fill gaps in the

database and to improve the quality of the data we have collected.

The database software is written in dBase II, a popular commercial

database package which runs on a wide range of micro-computers. We are

using a Cromemco System II. The database and its associated software

occupy 1.9 MB (megabytes) of disc space. The software allows data to be

added, deleted, or interrogated in a variety of ways. Cultivar

descriptions can be generated. The software can also be used to

identify or classify cultivars in any specified way.

PNL Volume 17 1985

GENE BANKS

We feel the Pisum Cultivar Database is a resource for anyone

interested in peas. It should be particularly useful for breeders

interested in predicting registration difficulties or wishing to

determine the range of commercially available phenotypes.

We are willing to answer ad-hoc inquiries or provide cultivar

descriptions for anyone interested in receiving them, providing such

requests do not overtax our resources. Under some circumstances we may

not be able to divulge the parentage of cultivars. Two examples of such

inquiries might be: "Can you please list all cultivars on the Common

Catalogue without parchment (p or v) which flower at node 10 and have a

100-seed-weight between 20-30 grams" or "Please print descriptions for

all cultivars owned by company X".

We can also offer subsets of the database along with the software

and a user manual. There may be a small charge for this. At the

moment, dBase II is required to use the software.

We are aware that the scope and definition of the descriptors could

be improved, both for our own purposes and for those requesting

information on particular cultivars or lines in our collection. We

welcome any comments and suggestions concerning such improvements. We

intend, in the near future, to add some disease resistance information

to the database.

We are also interested in any cultivars which are about to be

registered or deregistered in countries outside Europe and in any

unusual genotypes.

For further information please inquire to the following-address:

Niall Green or Peter Winfield

Agricultural Scientific Services

Department of Agriculture and Fisheries for Scotland

East Craigs, Edinburgh EH12 8NJ, Scotland

Telephone (031) 339 2355 Telex: DAFASS 727348

Niall Green is responsible for all cultivar registration matters.

Peter Winfield wrote the database software. Both of us are interested

in describing and cataloging the variation in peas, particularly with

respect to cultivars.



90	PNL Volume 17 1985	GENE BANKS



THE PISUM CULTIVAR DATABASE; A RESOURCE Winfield, P. J. and F. N. Breen Agricultural Scientific Services Edinburgh, Scotland The purpose of this note is to advertise the existence of a database of pea cultivars and its associated software. The Pisum Cultivar Database was created as an aid to cultivar registration work in the United Kingdom. The database primarily holds morphological and physiological data on 1350 cultivars and breeding lines, including all those cultivars on the European (EEC) Common Catalogue, those on the United Kingdom National List, and those entered for registration or the awarding of Plant Breeders' Rights. Registered material and material with Plant Breeders' Rights account for approximately 750 of the 1350 lines. We also hold approximately 1380 seed accessions in our seed reference collection. The database has approximately 70 morphological and physiological descriptors plus passport information for each cultivar along with further details concerning each seed accession. As far as possible, the morphological characters describe the plant genotype. The descriptions are based mainly on observations made over two years, 1983 and 1984. We plan to grow the entire collection again in 1985 to fill gaps in the database and to improve the quality of the data we have collected. The database software is written in dBase II, a popular commercial database package which runs on a wide range of micro-computers. We are using a Cromemco System II. The database and its associated software occupy 1.9 MB (megabytes) of disc space. The software allows data to be added, deleted, or interrogated in a variety of ways. Cultivar descriptions can be generated. The software can also be used to identify or classify cultivars in any specified way.