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FPS Grape Registry Glossary

Term Definition
Accession The word ‘accession’ is used in certain grape collections, such as those of the USDA-ARS’ repository collections in Davis CA and Geneva NY, to indicate a single vine contained within the collection.

Agricultural Research Service The ARS is the USDA’s chief scientific research agency, dedicated to finding solutions to agricultural problems.  ARS provides information access and dissemination to ensure high-quality, safe food and other agricultural products.  http://www.ars.usda.gov/

Agro Ideia Nursery This is a nursery in Portugal.

Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) is a unit within the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  One of the stated missions of the TTB is to ensure that alcohol products are labelled, advertised and marketed in accordance with law.  The TTB is responsible for approving grape prime names and synonyms which are used on wine labels in the United States.  http://www.ttb.gov/wine

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service APHIS is a federal agency within the USDA.  APHIS facilitates domestic and international marketing of U.S. agricultural products and ensures the health and care of plants. http://www.aphis.usda.gov/

Armstrong block The Armstrong block refers to an old vineyard on the University of California, Davis, campus.  The vineyard was used by the Department of Viticulture & Enology to house their collection and trials prior to development of the department vineyards off Hopkins Road.  The grapevines on the early list of registered vines (1956 and on) were planted in the Armstrong vineyard until the foundation collection was moved to a site closer to FPS in the early 1960's. 

ARS The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) is the USDA’s chief scientific research agency, dedicated to finding solutions to agricultural problems.  ARS provides information access and dissemination to ensure high-quality, safe food and other agricultural products.  http://www.ars.usda.gov/

BC Code used in tissue culture lab transfer notes for Bacterial Contamination in tube.

Budding Budding is a propagative technique where one unites a single bud and a rootstock cutting or growing grapevine so that both parts produce tissue and form a union that allows the bud to survive and grow.

California Department of Food & Agriculture CDFA is the state agency that oversees the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.

California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program The concept of maintaining a foundation block planting of disease-tested grapevine nursery stock was developed in California in the 1950’s.  In 1956, the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) established the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program, which provided for voluntary participation by nurseries and licensed propagators and targeted the elimination of specific grapevine virus diseases.  Foundation Plant Services was created in 1958 to maintain virus-tested propagative sources of foundation materials for distribution to grapevine nursery participants and other members of the public.  The program was one of the first clean stock programs in the world. 

Cancelled ‘Cancelled’ status in the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program means that registration status is permanently withdrawn from grapevine(s) entered in the program and the grapevine(s) may no longer serve as a source of foundation, registered or certified stock.

CDFA The California Department of Food & Agriculture is a state agency that oversees the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.

Centro di Ricerca per la Viticoltura This is the new name (since August, 2007) of the former Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura near Venice, Italy.

Certified nursery planting ‘Certified nursery planting’ means a planting of grapevine(s) propagated from foundation or registered stock in the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.  Grapevines grown in a certified nursery planting are qualified to be identified as certified stock.

Certified stock  ‘Certified stock’ refers to propagative materials or grapevines propagated from foundation or registered stock in the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.

Clone as used on this website, “clone” refers to a sub-category within a variety. At Foundation Plant Services (FPS), “clone” is the equivalent of a selection.  At the USDA facilities, “clone” is the equivalent of an accession.

Colmar Colmar is an INRA research station in northeastern France.

Common stock ‘Common stock’ refers to plant material from grapevines that are not registered in the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.

Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization CSIRO is a branch of the Australian national government.  CSIRO, located in Merbein, Victoria, does research on grapes.

Conegliano Conegliano is the location of a viticultural research station north of Venice, Italy.  The research station was formerly known as the Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura. Clones from this research station sometimes carry the prefix ISV.  In August of 2007, the research station changed the name to Centro di Ricerca per la Viticoltura.

CSIRO The Commonwealth Scientific Industrial Research Organization in Merbein, Victoria, is a branch of the Australian national government.  CSIRO does research on grapes.

Cultivar A cultivar is a strain of a plant that has been developed through cultivation. It is not a new species, but it has some distinctive traits that set it aside from other plants in the same species. Cultivars are only seen in cultivation and they must be maintained.

Dijon This designation was given to French clones at FPS that were imported in the 1980’s from Raymond Bernard, a professor at the University of Dijon.  Many of the materials Barnard sent originated in Burgundy.  The French clone numbers associated with these selections are CTPS (French clone) numbers.

Disease agent The words ‘disease agent’ are used in the California Grapevine Registation & Certification Program to mean a pathogen listed in the regulations for the program.

Diseased The word ‘diseased’ is used in the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program to mean that grapevine plant material is infected with a pathogen or pathogenic agent listed in the regulations for the program

DUD Code used in tissue culture lab transfer notes for a plant that is Dried Up and Dead in tube. 

DVIT DVIT is an accession number prefix for grapes held at the National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Davis, California

EIA Logroño Institute FPS has acquired a Tempranillo clone from this institute in Spain.

ENTAV The Etablissement National Technique pour l’Amelioration de la Viticulture (ENTAV) is an official agency certified by the French Ministry of Agriculture and responsible for the management and coordination of the French national clonal selection program.  ENTAV maintains the French national repository of accredited clones and has created an ENTAV-INRA® Authorized clone trademark to identify its official clonal materials internationally.  This trademark is a good indication that the clonal identity of a vine is correct.  Trademarked importations come directly from official French source vines.  ENTAV retains the exclusive rights to control the distribution and propagation of its trademarked materials.

ENTAV-INRA® This symbol represents the official trademark for the proprietary grapes from ENTAV (The Etablissement National Technique pour l’Amelioration de la Viticulture) in France.  The clones with this mark are represented by ENTAV to be the correct French clone of the same number. Trademarked importations come directly from official French source vines. ENTAV retains the exclusive rights to control the distribution and propagation of its trademarked materials.

Espiguette or l’Espiguette l’Espiguette is a French viticulture station located on the south coast of France (near Montpellier) at Domaine de l’Espiguette, Le Grau du Roi.

FC Code used in tissue culture lab transfer notes for Fungal Contamination in tube.

Foundation block ‘Foundation block’ means a planting of grapevines propagated and maintained by FPS, University of California, Davis, in accordance with the regulations established for the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.  Grapevines in the foundation block are registered with the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) as a source of foundation stock.

Foundation block candidate grapevines ‘Foundation block candidate grapevines’ are grapevines that will be planted in the foundation block at Foundation Plant Services if all requirements specified in the regulations for the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program are met

Foundation Plant Services Foundation Plant Services (FPS) is a self-supporting service unit in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis. FPS creates and maintains virus-tested grape plant material for the California Grapevine Registration and Certification Program. http://fps.ucdavis.edu

Foundation stock ‘Foundation stock’ refers to propagation materials or grapevines propagated from registered grapevines in a foundation block.

FPS Foundation Plant Services (FPS) is a self-supporting service unit in the College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences at the University of California, Davis.  FPS creates and maintains virus-tested grape plant material for the California Grapevine Registration and Certification Program.  http://fps.ucdavis.edu

Geisenheim Geisenheim is a German viticulture research station at Geisenheim, Germany.

Grafting ‘Grafting’ means uniting a short detached piece of stem tissue with several buds and a rootstock cutting or growing grapevine so that both parts produce tissue and form a union that allows the buds on the stick to survive and grow.

Grapevine ‘Grapevine’ or ‘vine’ means a rooted grape plant.

Group number A ‘group number’ is a unique identifying number assigned by Foundation Plant Services (FPS) to each individual grape selection in its collection.

GVIT GVIT is an accession number prefix for grapes held at the USDA-ARS facility in Geneva, New York

Heat treatment Dr. Austin Goheen experimented with heat therapy to eliminate virus diseases in grapevines in the 1960’s.  He took cuttings to the edge of their heat tolerance, exposing the cuttings to high temperatures for extended periods of time to retard or kill viruses without also killing the plants.  When new (ostensibly virus free) buds began to appear on the cuttings, they would be removed and utilized to propagate new, clean stock.  Goheen ultimately settled on an optimum treatment temperature of 100° Fahrenheit for a period of approximately 60 days.

Hybrid  In respect to roses, a ‘hybrid’ is the plant that results from breeding together two different rose species. This may happen naturally or with human intervention. The parents of hybrids are selected by the rose breeder in the hope of combining desirable qualities from each parent in the hybrid. Hybrids are often more vigorous than their parents, a quality known as ‘hybrid vigour’. Hybrids may be sterile or it may not be possible to reproduce a hybrid identically from its own seed.

Increase block ‘Increase block’ is a phrase used in the regulations for the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.  An increase block is an expanded planting of foundation stock that has been propagated by nursery participants in the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.

INRA The Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA) is the principal research agency of the Ministry of Agriculture in France. It consists of 21 research centers located throughout France, working on all crops. Each center is composed of a number of stations located in the same region.  INRA Viticulture stations do grape selection work and/or wine quality testing.  Two INRA stations do virus testing work.  INRA is the equivalent of the Agricultural Research Service in the United States Department of Agriculture. 

Intermediate source vine ‘Intermediate source vine’ is a phrase used in the regulations for the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.  An intermediate source vine is a grapevine growing in a California registered increase block that serves as a source for propagation materials used to make another vine or topwork another vine planted in the same registered increase block or in a secondary increase block.

Istituto di Patologia Vegetale This entity is a viticultural research institute at Bari, the capital city of the Puglia region in Italy.

Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura This is the former name of a viticultural research station north of Venice, Italy.  It is sometimes referred to as ‘Conegliano’.  Clones from this research station sometimes carry the prefix ISV. In August of 2007, the center changed its name to Centro di Ricerca per la Viticoltura.

ISV This prefix indicates that the clone originated at the Istituto Sperimentale per la Viticoltura in Conegliano, Italy.  In August of 2007, the name of the research station was changed to Centro di Ricerca per la Viticoltura.

ITACyl The Instituto Tecnológico Agrario de Castilla y León, Valladolid, Spain.

Jackson vineyard The Jackson vineyard is a vineyard at the University of California’s former Foothill Experiment Station established near Jackson, California in the 1880’s.

Kearney ‘Kearney’ refers to the University of California’s Kearney Agricultural Center in Parlier, California, which is a regional headquarters for U.C. Cooperative Extension as well as a major U.C. field station location.

Macroshoot tip tissue culture Macroshoot tip culture is a disease elimination technique whereby tissue pieces are excised from a plant and cultured in sterile growth media apart from the plant.  This technique is effective for eliminating bacterial and fungal contaminants such as Agrobacterium vitis (crown gall), but not for elimination of viral contaminants.  In this technique, the tissue pieces (cells) are harvested from a tip of the plant. The tip that is excised is approximately 10 mm, which is larger than the piece customarily taken in tissue culture therapy at FPS. The excised tip is placed in sterile tissue culture growth media, where the new plant develops.   See also, Tissue culture; Shoot tip (tissue) culture.

Microshoot tip tissue culture Shoot tip culture is a disease elimination technique whereby tissue pieces are excised from a plant and cultured in a sterile growth media apart from the plant.  One of the preferred disease elimination methods for plants is ‘microshoot tip culture’, which is very effective for eliminating most viral, bacterial and fungal contaminants. In this technique, the tissue pieces (cells) are harvested from a meristem tip of the plant. The meristem tip is the actively growing tissue at the tip of the shoot. A meristem tip of less than 0.5mm is extracted from the shoot and placed in sterile tissue culture growth media, where the new plant develops. See also, Tissue culture; Shoot tip (tissue) culture; Macroshoot tip (tissue) culture. 

Missouri Grape Importation & Certification Program This program located at Missouri State University maintains virus-tested grapevine plant material in its collection.

Montpellier This is the location of a viticulture station located in the southern region of France.

National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NGCR) The National Clonal Germplasm Repository is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA-ARS) facility in Davis, California.  It is a holding facility for thousands of grape varieties from around the world.  http://www.ars.usda.gov

NGD  No Growth Dead - Code used in tissue culture lab transfer notes for plant that did not grow and is dead.

Northwest Grape Foundation Service The Northwest Grape Foundation Service is the former name of the clean plant program for grapes at Washington State University, Prosser, Washington.  The new name is the Clean Plant Center of the Northwest for Grapes.

Oakville Oakville, California is the location of a UC Davis viticulture research station in Napa County, CA. The full name of the station is the Oakville Experimental Vineyard.

Off-type An ‘off-type’ grapevine means: (1) that the vine is different from the variety listed for that grapevine on the application for registration or certification in the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program; or (2) that the vine exhibits characteristics of a genetic disorder.

Old Foundation vineyard A name frequently used in reference to the foundation vineyard (Foundation Plant Services) that was created around 1961, about ¼ mile south of Straloch Road and ¼ mile west of Hopkins Road in Davis, California.

P.I. P.I. is an abbreviation for ‘Plant Introduction’ number, that is issued by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s APHIS division when a grape is imported into the United States.  Grape accessions at the USDA-ARS facilities at Davis and Geneva may have both a P.I. number and a local identifying number (DVIT in Davis, GVIT in Geneva).

Participant ‘Participant’ is a word used in the regulations for the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program (Program).  A participant is any person or legal entity who agrees to fulfill the responsibilities of the Program, who has submitted an application to the Department of Food & Agriculture and whose application has been accepted by CDFA.

PCR - Polymerase Chain Reaction The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a biochemical technology in molecular biology used to amplify a single or a few copies of a piece of DNA across several orders of magnitude, generating thousands to millions of copies of a particular DNA sequence.

PLANSEL® This symbol is the trademark for grapes marketed by Viveiros Plansel, S.A. from Portugal.

Plant Genetic Resources Unit The Plant Genetic Resources Unit is a United States Department of Agriculture (USDA-ARS) facility in Geneva, New York.  It is a component of the U.S. National Plant Germplasm system and specializes in Cold-Hardy grape accessions. http://www.ars.usda.gov

Ploidy Ploidy is the number of sets of chromosomes in the nucleus of a cell. Normally a gamete carries a full set of chromosomes that includes a single copy of each chromosome, as aneuploidy generally leads to severe genetic disease in the offspring. The gametic or haploid number is the number of chromosomes in a gamete.

Pont-de-la-Maye Pont-de-la-Maye, France, is the location of an INRA research station named Centre de Bordeaux, where there is a grapevine clonal selection program.

Primary increase block ‘Primary increase block’ is a phrase used in the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.  A primary increase block is a planting of grapevines established initially with foundation stock, registered with the California Department of Food & Agriculture and planted in 1993 or later.  It is a technical phrase used to indicate nursery plantings consisting of foundation stock.

Prime Name The phrase “prime name” has a different meaning depending on the context in which it is used.  The relevant definitions for use herein are: 1. The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is a unit within the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  One of the stated missions of the TTB is to ensure that alcohol products are labelled, advertised and marketed in accordance with law.  The TTB is responsible for approving prime names and synonyms which are used on wine labels in the United States.  The TTB prime name is the primary grape name approved for use on a wine label in the United States. http://www.ttb.gov/wine. 

2.  When a variety name is offered as a prime name on the National Grape Registry (NGR) website, it means that this name is in use in a public grape collection and/or the grapevine nursery trade in the United States. The NGR prime name may or may not be the same as the prime name approved by the federal government (TTB) for use on wine labels, however the NGR does list the TTB prime name (or names) where established for an individual variety. The key to the NGR prime name is that it is the name by which the grape is known at the sources offering it to grape growers and other interested parties.

3.  For purposes of the Vitis International Variety Catalogue (VIVC), prime name means “the name of the cultivar in its (probable) country of origin” if several names (synonyms) of one grapevine cultivar are known; if the origin of cultivar is uncertain, prime name means “the name under which the cultivar is the most widespread”. http://www.vivc.bafz.de/index.php.  All other names are registered as synonyms.

Propagative materials The phrase ‘propagative materials’ refers to cuttings, buds, budsticks, or graftsticks taken from a grapevine.

Proprietary Proprietary status indicates that distribution of particular grape plant material within the United States is restricted to or controlled by a specific customer.

Prosser A city in the State of Washington where many programs of Washington State University are located, including the Irrigated Agriculture Research & Extension Center and the Clean Plant Center of the Northwest.

Provisional Registration Status Provisional Status is an important term used in the regulations of the California Department of Food & Agriculture’s Grapevine Registration & Certification Program. Grapevine selections with Provisional Status have successfully completed all required disease testing, but have not been confirmed as true to variety. Propagation material from Provisional selections qualifies for release subject to the understanding on the part of the customer that the identity has yet to be confirmed.

 

R & C Program This phrase is an abbreviated reference to the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.

Rauscedo Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo is a large private nursery that has a clonal selection program.  The nursery is located in Torino, Italy. The clones from this nursery usually carry the prefix “VCR”; many of the clones are proprietary.

Registered increase block ‘Registered increase block’ is a phrase used in the regulations for the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.

Registered Status Registered is the ultimate status in the California Department of Food & Agriculture’s Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.  Registered selections have successfully completed all disease testing required by the regulations. Registered selections have also been confirmed as true to variety by experts using visual observations, DNA-based testing or both.

 

Registered stock The phrase ‘Registered stock’ is used in the regulations for the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.  ‘Registered stock’ means propagative materials from registered grapevines in a primary or secondary increase block.

Release Date Date when the first plant in a group receives a 'P' or 'R' registration status.

Richter Nursery This is a French grape nursery located in Saint-Clement la Riviere, France.

Rose Hips These are the rose seed pods that form after a flower's petals fall if the bloom was pollinated. Hips are the fruit produced by rose plants. Apple trees are members of the rosacae family and the apple is a hip. Some varieties such as R.rugosa produce large hips that turn brilliant colors in the fall.

Allowing the hips to develop will cause a rose to slow down or stop producing flowers. It also helps induce dormancy, helping prepare the rose plant for winter in colder climates. In contrast, deadheading will keep the plant from producing hips and encourage it to produce more flowers.

RSP+ This notation indicates that grape plant material has tested positive for Rupestris stem pitting disease.  At one time, an imported grape that tested RSP+ was not eligible for release from quarantine in the United States.  In the early 1990’s, RSP was dropped from the list of grape diseases requiring quarantine in the USDA.  In 2001, the California regulations were changed to allow grape material that tested positive for RSP to be eligible for the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.  See Grape Program Newsletter, October 2000, Foundation Plant Services at http://fps.ucdavis.edu.

Saanichton Saanichton is the location of the CFIA's Centre for Plant Health in British Columbia, Canada. The facility is located in the city of Sidney on Victoria Island.

Secondary increase block ‘Secondary increase block’ is a phrase used in the regulations for the California Grapevine Certification & Registration Program (Program).  A secondary increase block means a planting of grapevines established by a participant in the Program with propagative materials from one or more of that participant’s primary increase blocks or from the foundation block and registered with the Department of Food & Agriculture.

Selection The word ‘selection’ is used by Foundation Plant Services (FPS) to indicate a single vine source for grapevine plant material within the FPS collection. 

Shoot tip tissue culture Shoot tip culture is a disease elimination technique whereby tissue pieces are excised from a plant and cultured in a sterile growth media apart from the plant.  One of the preferred disease elimination methods for plants is ‘microshoot tip culture’, which is very effective for eliminating most viral, bacterial and fungal contaminants. In this technique, the tissue pieces (cells) are harvested from a meristem tip of the plant. The meristem tip is the actively growing tissue at the tip of the shoot. A meristem tip of less than 0.5mm is extracted from the shoot and placed in sterile tissue culture growth media, where the new plant develops. Another shoot tip tissue culture method, entitled 'macroshoot tip culture', involves excision of a larger piece of shoot tip and is effective against bacterial or fungal contaminants. See also, Tissue culture; Macroshoot tip (tissue) culture; Microshoot tip (tissue) culture.

Suspended “Suspended’ is a word used in the regulations for the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program.  ‘Suspended’ means that the registration status is temporarily withdrawn from grapevine(s) or foundation, registered, and/or certified stock.

Synonym The same grape variety/cultivar is frequently known by many names across regions and countries. The National Grape Registry (NGR) website attempts to capture all reasonable synonym names for each variety in order to allow for easy location of grape plant material. See the button labelled 'Learn about prime names/ synonym' on any variety page for an explanation of the naming issues.

Tax and Trade Bureau The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is a unit within the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  One of the stated missions of the TTB is to ensure that alcohol products are labelled, advertised and marketed in accordance with law.  The TTB is responsible for approving prime names and synonyms which are used on wine labels in the United States.  http://www.ttb.gov/wine

Testing Testing on grape plant material is performed for the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program (Program).  ‘Testing’ means any procedure using plant material or its extracts to determine the presence or absence of a disease or disease agent in or on the subject plant material.  Testing protocols are described in the regulations for the Program.

The Etablissement National Technique pour l’Amelioration de la Viticulture ENTAV is an official agency certified by the French Ministry of Agriculture and responsible for the management and coordination of the French national clonal selection program.  ENTAV maintains the French national repository of accredited clones and has created an ENTAV-INRA® Authorized clone trademark to identify its official clonal materials internationally.  This trademark is a good indication that the clonal identity of a vine is correct.  Trademarked importations come directly from official French source vines.  ENTAV retains the exclusive rights to control the distribution and propagation of its trademarked materials.

Tissue culture Tissue culture is a plant propagation or disease elimination technique whereby tissue pieces (cells) are separated from an organism and grown in a sterile growth media apart from that organism. 

Top-work ‘Top-work’ means budding or grafting of another grape variety on top of existing rootstock.

True-to-variety A grapevine is ‘true to variety’ when it is (1) the same as the variety listed on the application for registration or certification in the California Grapevine Registration & Certification Program; or (2) exhibits the well-established characteristics or qualities of the variety with that name.

TTB The Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau is a unit within the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  One of the stated missions of the TTB is to ensure that alcohol products are labelled, advertised and marketed in accordance with law.  The TTB is responsible for approving prime names and synonyms which are used on wine labels in the United States.  http://www.ttb.gov/wine

USDA The United States Department of Agriculture.

VCR This prefix indicates that a clone originated at Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo in Italy.

VEN This abbreviation refers to vineyard(s) maintained by the Department of Viticulture & Enology at the University of California, Davis.  Many FPS selections originated from VEN vineyard(s).

Vine ‘Grapevine’ or ‘vine’ means a rooted grape plant.

Vivai Cooperativi Rauscedo Rauscedo is a large private nursery that has a clonal selection program.  The nursery is located in Torino, Italy. The clones from this nursery usually carry the prefix “VCR”; many of the clones are proprietary.

Viveiros Plansel S.A. Viveiros Plansel S.A. is a private business in Portugal that specializes in grape production and wines.  Grapes imported from Viveiros Plansel, S.A., into the United States are marked under the trademark PLANSEL®.

Wadenswil Wadenswil is a horticulture and viticulture research station in Wadenswil, Switzerland.

Zanzi The full name of this large Italian nursery is Zanzivivai Ferrara s.r.l.  It was previously the source of both wine and table grapes but now deals only with table grapes.