Collaborating to Conserve Genetic Diversity of Widespread Species Threatened by Emergent Pathogens: Sassafras Germplasm Project

US National Arboretum, American Public Gardens Association’s Plant Collections Network, and National Laboratory for Genetic Resource Preservation (NLGRP) are working together to conserve the genetic diversity of Sassafras albidum, a widespread species in the Eastern US, under threat from Laurel Wilt Disease. This vascular disease introduced a decade ago in Georgia can be lethal to species within Lauraceae and has spread rapidly throughout the Southeast into the heart of the sassafras natural range. Leveraging the Plant Collections Network, individuals in twenty-two states collected leaf samples from local sassafras populations for genetic sequencing at US National Arboretum. Curators at the arboretum’s germplasm repository have sent seed and dormant budwood to NLGRP for researchers to test protocols for long-term preservation. Other collaborators from The Morton Arboretum, Botanic Gardens Conservation International, and the USDA Forest Service published a conservation gap analysis of U.S. laurels including sassafras to guide conservation actions. Lessons learned during this pilot project will help inform future initiatives when emergent pathogens threaten widespread species and require rapid coordinated simultaneous actions to conserve genetic diversity.