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Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO)

Germplasm Deposit

Making Germplasm Deposits for a Plant Variety Certificate

Plant variety protection is used by plant breeders as an important marketing tool that protects their 

innovation. The AMS Plant Variety Protection Office (PVPO) provides intellectual property rights protection 

to breeders of varieties of seed propagated and asexually reproduced plants that are new, distinct, 

uniform, and stable. Based on the Plant Variety Protection Act and in compliance with the International 

Union for the Protection of New Varieties of Plants (UPOV), we examine new variety characteristics in order 

to grant certificates that protect varieties for 20 years (25 years for woody vines and trees).

Germplasm Types

The germplasm sample serves as a voucher specimen for PVPO's use should a question ever arise about the 

validity of the description.

Seed Samples: Samples are sent to the National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation (NLGRP)

in Fort Collins, Colorado. The memorandum of understanding between PVPO and NLGRP states that these 

seed samples will be kept separate from the NLGRP general collection during the term of protection.

Vegetative Samples: Due to the infeasibility of long term storage and variety recovery of several 

asexually reproduced varieties a propagating material for asexually reproduced plant varieties is not 

required. Samples are to be maintained by the applicant or at a repository of their choosing (with all fees 

to be paid by the applicant). Potato Samples: Potato samples must be submitted to NLGRP.
Agricultural Marketing Service

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January 2023 | www.ams.usda.gov/services/plant-variety-protection

Germplasm Protocols

Seed and Potato Samples:

Samples are sent to the National Laboratory for Genetic Resources Preservation in Ft. Collins, Colorado. 

View instructions for depositing PVP voucher samples with NLGRP.

Vegetative Samples:

• Asexual

 The deposit of propagating material for asexually reproduced plant varieties is not required. The 

applicant must sign a declaration that the propagating material will be maintained at a specific 

location of their choosing, subject to PVPO inspection. If requested by PVPO, a voucher specimen 

must be provided within three months. Failure to provide a specimen as requested shall result in 

the certificate being regarded as abandoned.

• Potato Tubers (required after notice of certificate issuance)

 A deposit of ten (10) separate in-vitro plants (1 plant per tube), no more than two weeks old, 

firmly rooted in one percent agar are required for deposit at NLGRP, which prepares tissue 

cultures for preservation. It is recommended that plantlets be sent by an overnight delivery 

service to minimize the risk of damage.

 Payment information is listed under Fees.

Seed

• An applicant needs to provide an original deposit of materials for seed-reproduced plants which shall 

be made within three months of the filing date of the application or prior to issuance of the certificate, 

whichever occurs first. Deposit consists of 3,000 viable untreated seeds of the variety; additionally, for 

first-generation hybrids, 3,000 seeds of each parent needed to reproduce the variety in addition to the 

variety seed sample.

• Seed samples from within the U.S. should be sent directly to NLGRP at the following address via 

commercial carriers (i.e. FedEx, UPS, etc.) rather than the U.S. Postal Service.

USDA-ARS-NLGRP

Attn: PVP Coordinator

1111 South Mason St.

Fort Collins, CO 80521-4500

Sending Material from outside the United States

• Seed and potato plantlets: Please email NLGRP at NLGRP-PVP-Coordinator@usda.gov to request an 

NLGRP Import Instruction letter and import documents (if required).

• Do not send material until you have complete instructions from NLGRP. Seed and potato plantlets 

shipped without proper documentation from non-US sources may be destroyed.

Contact Information

Email: PVPOmail@usda.gov