The Evaluation and Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources Collected in Lithuania

Denise F Dostatny,Ryszard Rawski,Aleksandra Korzeniewska,Grzegorz Bartoszewski,Karolina Kaźmińska,B Gelvonauskis

doi:10.3390/agronomy11081586

Abstract

The present work compiles the results of three-year expeditions organized between 2011 and 2013 aimed at plant crop collection in the area of Lithuania, an Eastern European country. Accessions of fruit trees, vegetables, cereals, forage, industrial, fibrous, medical, and spice crops as well as accompanying segetal plants were collected in 5 ethnographic regions of Lithuania. In total, 1010 samples of seeds, bulbs, and plant grafts were obtained. The majority of the collected samples belonged to the Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, Solanaceae, Alliaceae, and Rosaceae families. The accessions were described and deposited in the long-term storage in Lithuanian and Polish Gene Banks. Almost all collected cucumbers, pumpkins, squashes, and oat plants were morphologically characterized in field experiments. Cucurbita pepo accessions showed high morphological diversity, while limited diversity of cucumber accessions was observed. Oat plants were characterized by high morphological diversity and resistance to diseases present in some of the investigated accessions. Further characterization of collected apple trees and other accessions is underway. Obtaining germplasm in the area of Lithuania fulfills a gap in current plant crop collections. Collected material could be valuable for pre-breeding evaluation and further breeding programs as well as the study of genetic diversity.

Highlights

The idea of collecting, keeping, and using plant genetic resources dates back to the beginning of the 20th century
During three expeditions organized in the years 2011, 2012, and 2013 in 5 ethnographic regions of Lithuania, seeds, bulbs, and grafts of 1010 accessions belonging to 5 plant groups were collected and described (Table 1)
Field expeditions that took place in the area of Lithuania between 2011 and 2013 allowed us to get acquainted with the abundance of this country in the remnants of old orchards, where interesting fruit tree varieties, mainly apple trees grown at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, can be found even today

Summary

Introduction

The idea of collecting, keeping, and using plant genetic resources dates back to the beginning of the 20th century. In the 21st century, we still need to organize collection missions in order to preserve the loss of the plant genetic resource diversity caused by changes in agriculture methods and the transformation of the landscape. In Lithuania, the first crop collections were established at the end of the 19th century. The collection of agricultural crops and plant genetic resources started when the Dotnuva plant breeding station was founded in 1922 [3]. Collections of various agricultural crops, e.g., rye, barley, oat, potato, clover, forage grasses, and others, were established and breeding programs of these crops were started [3]. Fruit cultivar testing and breeding at the experimental station for horticulture were started in the late 1940s [4]

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion