This award provides renewed support of the Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center (ABRC). The Center collects, preserves, reproduces and distributes diverse seed and DNA stocks of the flowering plant, Arabidopsis thaliana. The ABRC provides access to lists of its stocks and other materials online, and uses a forms-based online ordering system to minimize the difficulty of identifying and ordering seeds and DNA reagents. Since the ABRC was established in 1991, Arabidopsis has become the model species of choice for basic studies of flowering plants. The ABRC serves a dynamic community of plant researchers involved in cutting-edge biology that impacts the fundamental understanding of the basic functioning of plants as well as applied research aimed at crop improvement. The value of the collection has been enhanced by the completion of the sequencing of the Arabidopsis genome, and demand for the services of the ABRC is expected to grow as interest in functional genomics increases. On an annual basis, the Center currently distributes approximately 70,000 seed and 24,000 DNA stocks to about 2,500 scientists worldwide. This award will provide 55% of the ABRC's operating budget, with the remainder coming from user fees and institutional support.
The Arabidopsis Biological Resource Center (ABRC, http://abrc.osu.edu) was established in 1991 with the mission to collect, preserve, propagate and distribute diverse resources of Arabidopsis thaliana and related species. With continuing support from the NSF, the resources have expanded to include seed, DNA, protein and cell culture stocks as well as educational materials, resulting in the current collection of almost one million stocks. The ABRC serves a very large and dynamic community of over 20,000 plant researchers worldwide with a common goal to understand the basic processes of flowering plants, as well as to apply this understanding to further crop improvement. The activities of the Center are essential to support collective efforts of the community to functionally characterize the Arabidopsis genome and genes. This is reflected in increasing number of orders, which over the past funding period have reached almost 100,000 stocks annually. Over the past five years, the Center has continued to expand the existing collections and to identify potential interest for new stocks, driven by community needs. The stocks preserved, amplified and distributed by the ABRC during the completed funding period can be categorized into three main classes: A) Seed Resources, B) DNA Resources and C) New Resources. Realizing the strategic position of the ABRC in the Arabidopsis and plant community, the Center started several educational activities (K-12 and College-level) to increase the appreciation for Arabidopsis and plants in general in the younger generations.
