Articles
German fruit genebank – an innovative approach for sustainable preservation of fruit genetic resources in Germany
Article number
1439_6
Pages
37 – 44
Language
English
Abstract
In Germany, all activities concerning the long-term preservation, utilization, research, and development of fruit genetic resources are based on the National Program for Genetic Resources of Agricultural and Horticultural Plants.
The preservation of fruit genetic resources forms the keystone for sustainable fruit production in Germany, with its origins dating back to the early 20th century.
Over time, both public and private germplasm collections have meticulously preserved a diverse array of fruit cultivars.
The German Fruit Genebank was established as a decentralized network 17 years ago with the aim of coordinating the various germplasm collections in Germany to minimize the risk of losing fruit genetic resources.
Organized into species-specific networks of decentralized collections, the German Fruit Genebank is centrally coordinated by the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) in Dresden.
Currently, seven networks encompassing 78 distinct collections, managed by 37 partners across various governmental, communal, non-governmental, and private entities, focus on key fruit species in Central Europe: apple, cherry, strawberry, plum, Rubus, pear, and wild fruit.
Due to its high priority, projects characterizing the genetic resources on trueness-to-type using pomological and molecular characteristics have been completed in recent years.
Approximately 92% of the apple cultivars belonging to the German Fruit Genebank and 94% of the sweet cherry cultivars could be identified as true-to-type.
Based on these results, the exchange of plant material will be organized among the partners of the German Fruit Genebank to duplicate the cultivars within the established fruit-specific networks and fulfill the aims of the cooperation agreement.
The German Fruit Genebank is represented on the website www.deutsche-genbank-obst.de, which serves as the focal point for the database of cultivars and accession data.
Data from systematic characterization and evaluation, along with photographs, will be uploaded for all the cultivars preserved in this decentralized network.
The preservation of fruit genetic resources forms the keystone for sustainable fruit production in Germany, with its origins dating back to the early 20th century.
Over time, both public and private germplasm collections have meticulously preserved a diverse array of fruit cultivars.
The German Fruit Genebank was established as a decentralized network 17 years ago with the aim of coordinating the various germplasm collections in Germany to minimize the risk of losing fruit genetic resources.
Organized into species-specific networks of decentralized collections, the German Fruit Genebank is centrally coordinated by the Julius Kühn Institute (JKI) in Dresden.
Currently, seven networks encompassing 78 distinct collections, managed by 37 partners across various governmental, communal, non-governmental, and private entities, focus on key fruit species in Central Europe: apple, cherry, strawberry, plum, Rubus, pear, and wild fruit.
Due to its high priority, projects characterizing the genetic resources on trueness-to-type using pomological and molecular characteristics have been completed in recent years.
Approximately 92% of the apple cultivars belonging to the German Fruit Genebank and 94% of the sweet cherry cultivars could be identified as true-to-type.
Based on these results, the exchange of plant material will be organized among the partners of the German Fruit Genebank to duplicate the cultivars within the established fruit-specific networks and fulfill the aims of the cooperation agreement.
The German Fruit Genebank is represented on the website www.deutsche-genbank-obst.de, which serves as the focal point for the database of cultivars and accession data.
Data from systematic characterization and evaluation, along with photographs, will be uploaded for all the cultivars preserved in this decentralized network.
Authors
M. Höfer, H. Flachowsky
Keywords
decentralized network, fruit, genetic resources, German Fruit Genebank, preservation
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