# Accession

> An accession is a distinct sample of plant material (seed, tissue or cuttings) entered into a collection or gene bank under its own ID with records of origin.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/accession.html
- Also written: accessions, germplasm accession, seed accession, accession number
- Glossary category: Genetics and breeding · Evidence: Established
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

An accession is a sample of plant material added to a [gene](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/gene.md) bank or collection and given its own identifier. Its record (passport data) includes where and when it was collected, by whom, the population it came from, and how it has been maintained or regenerated since.

## In practice

Gene banks for crops such as maize or wheat hold accessions as seed, [tissue culture](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/tissue-culture.md) or field collections. For cannabis the same idea applies to private and community collections. A seed line with a passport record (collection region, year, number of parent plants, every [regeneration](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/re-veg.md) since) is far more useful to breeders and preservationists than a named pack with no history.

GenetixBay applies accession thinking to member material: each plant or seed line gets an ID, and its origin, lineage and test results are recorded, so a cut or a line can be traced and compared over time.

## Don't confuse with

- **Cultivar**: a variety; one cultivar may be held as several accessions from different sources.
- **Strain name**: a label without a record.
- **Germplasm**: the [genetic material](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/germplasm.md) in general; an accession is one recorded sample of it.

## Related terms

[Germplasm](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/germplasm.md), [Gene pool](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/gene-pool.md), [Landrace](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/landrace.md), [Heirloom](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/heirloom.md), [Genotyping](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/genotyping.md)

## Read more

- [How to document lineage evidence (GB-ID evidence levels L0-L4)](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/breeding/documenting-lineage-evidence.md)
- [Patents and the gene pool: who can own a cannabis plant?](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/genetics-history/patents-and-the-gene-pool.md)

## Sources

1. Acquaah G. 2012. Principles of Plant Genetics and Breeding, 2nd edition. Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118313718