Plant genepool of forest-steppe of Ukraine

Abstract

Goal: To investigate the distribution of and to collect local gene pool accessions of domestic plants and their wild relatives adapted to the forest-steppe of Ukraine and further to select among them accessions with economically and biologically valuable traits with subsequent inclusion in breeding and research programs and preservation in collections of the National Plant Gene Bank of Ukraine. Materials and Methods. Collecting was focused on local accessions of grain legumines, cereals, medicinal plants, vegetables, gourds and spice herbs, wild fodder legumes and cereal grasses and other valuable accessions. The method – a collecting mission. Results and Discussion. In 46 locations, 417 accessions were collected belonging to 164 plant species, of which 76 are domestic and 88 are wild. The accessions are adapted to the central, southern and eastern forest-steppe of Ukraine. 88 herbarium sheets were collected. Nine promising sites were identified for monitoring the status of coenopopulations of valuable and rare forms of forage and medicinal plants, their comprehensive study, preservation and restoration. For Red Book species and species that are not listed in the Red Book of Ukraine, but are rare or endangered in nature, locations for possible foundation of in situ reserves were chosen in the Kirovogradska and Poltavska regions. Based on studies of the collected Althaea officinalis L. material, sources of economically valuable traits were singled out: with increased content of polysaccharides in grass, leaf number per plant, resistance to leaf-eating pests. 478 packages of seed samples and planting units collected by the mission were transferred for in-depth study and use in breeding, research and training programs. Conclusions. The collected 417 accessions of the gene pool of domestic plants and their wild relates belonging to 164 species will help expand the genetic basis of existing collections of genetic resources of field, medicinal and other crops and to build up new ones for breeding, scientific and other programs. Identification of habitats of valuable forms of wild plants will ensure their preservation and restoration. The results of the mission indicate that it is promising to continue missions and surveys and to collect gene pool accessions in this region.