CHARACTERISATION OF LATVIA FRUIT CROP GENETIC RESOURCES BY APPLICATION OF MOLECULAR GENETICS METHODS

A large diversity of fruit crop accessions is maintained at the latvia state institute of fruit-growing, which consists of modern cultivars, landraces and selections from local breeding programmes,as well as germplasm that has resulted from scientific exchange and co-operation withother institutes. presently, the germplasm collection comprises 2509 accessions of 17 fruit crops;676 accessions are designated as national genetic resources. conservation of germplasm itselfhas little value without characterisation and further utilisation of the stored plant material. to intensifythese activities, dna-based technologies have been implemented in the characterisationof germplasm. two main groups of molecular markers have been utilised: non-specific markersand gene-specific (functional) markers, subsequently applicable for marker assisted selection(mas). genotyping protocols based on ssr, rapd and methylation-sensitive amplification polymorphism(msap) markers have been developed for twelve fruit crops for use in plant materialidentification, true-to-type verification and evaluation of genetic diversity and internal collectionstructure. in total, 790 accessions have been genotyped using any of the mentioned markers.these markers have been harmonised with the european cooperative programme for plant geneticresources working group (ecpgr wg) recommended sets to ensure international data exchange.gene specific molecular markers have been applied to apple and pear (resistance toscab), strawberry (resistance to gnomonia fragariae), sweet cherries and plums (self-incompatibility).