IN VITRO COLLECTION OF BERRY AND FRUIT CROPS AND THEIR WILD RELATIVES AT VIR

Background. The problem of ex situ conservation of plant genetic resources (PGR) is particularly relevant due to the decreasing of their genetic diversity. Accessions of vegetatively propagated crops are usually preserved in field genebanks. In vitro collections for medium-term storage and cryo collections for long-term storage are established as duplicate collections. Safe ex situ conservation of PGR is ensured by the existence of all three types of collections. The strategy of building up an in vitro collection of berry and fruit crops at VIR is based on the need to preserve domestic cultivars, local varieties and, primarily, landraces as well as accessions of crop wild relatives collected mainly in the Russian Federation and adjacent countries. Such genetic material is sparse or completely absent in the genebanks of other countries. Materials and methods. Accessions from the field genebanks maintained at VIR’s experiment stations in Pavlovsk and Maikop, samples obtained by collecting teams launched by VIR and other institutions were used to initiate in vitro culture. All procedures to preserve various fruit and berry germplasm in vitro at VIR in the state of active growth and under medium-term storage conditions have been carried out according to the protocols presented in the Methodological Guidelines of VIR’s Department of Biotechnology. Results and conclusion. Currently, the in vitro collection of berry and fruit crops at VIR holds 330 accessions of raspberry, blackberry, honeysuckle, strawberry, stone fruit plants (cherry, plum), mountain ash, and black currant, including 236 cultivars, 14 hybrids and 80 accessions of crop wild relatives, 68 of which were collected in the Russian Federation and neighboring countries. At present, VIR’s in vitro collection is one of the largest in the network of European and Asian genebanks that preserve accessions of berry and fruit plants cultivated under temperate climate conditions. Germplasm from the in vitro collection is used for various purposes: to develop virus eradication techniques; for genotyping; to study physiological and biochemical processes occurring in micro-plants under medium term storage; for the development of cryopreservation methods and for establishment of cryo collections; in morphobiological studies of ex vitro plants, etc.