Common buckwheat (Fagopyrum esculentum Moench.) has a long history of cultivation in the large, mountainous regions of Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H). Its commercial production is mainly based on the regionally bred variety ‘Darja’, but numerous landraces are also being grown on a smaller scale. As part of the SEEDNet (Southeast European Network on Plant Genetic Resources) project, these landraces have been collected and stored at the Gene bank of the Faculty of Agriculture and Food Sciences in Sarajevo (FAFS). To assess their utilization value, it was first important to investigate if they represent distinct landraces and to identify their genetic relationships with the most commonly grown varieties in the region (‘Darja’, ‘Goluba’ and ‘Čebelica’). Therefore, the aim of this study was to assess the genetic relationships and diversity of the common buckwheat accessions maintained at the FAFS Gene bank, as well as the value of these accessions for future breeding programs, using microsatellite markers and seventeen quantitative and fifteen qualitative morphological traits. The FCA (Factorial Correspondence Analysis) and AMOVA (Analysis of Molecular Variance) revealed that several accessions represent completely distinct landraces which clearly differentiated from the most commonly grown cultivars ‘Darja’ and ‘Goluba’. Conducted morphological analyses revealed that several of the analyzed landraces hold similar characteristics to the ones observed in ‘Darja’ and ‘Goluba’, while others possess unique traits potentially useful in breeding programs.

In the Croatian apple germplasm, there are, presumably, unique genotypes that have not yet been documented in reference molecular databases. Due to similarities between accessions, incorrect names are often used, which creates a problem in the identification of accessions. Overall, 169 apple accessions and 11 reference cultivars from the largest ex situ apple collection in the Republic of Croatia were investigated within this study. The examined accessions have been genotyped using SSR markers. In order to assess the advantage of a high-resolution marker system, such as SNPs, compared to low-resolution markers, such as SSRs, a subset of 23 unique apple accessions and eight reference cultivars were genotyped using the 480K Affymetrix Axiom SNP array. Results obtained through the use of two marker systems revealed 26 synonyms, 40 duplicates, 13 mislabeling accessions, 45 accessions with confirmed identity (known cultivars), and 45 unique accessions, as well as the true identity of a large number of accessions, currently maintained at the Croatian National Apple Germplasm Bank. In order to investigate the pomological variability of unique apples, a three-year study was carried out on eleven pomological traits. The researched germplasm shows an exceptional diversity of pomological properties. Many of the accessions can be considered unique, and the results of the pomological characterization indicated that this germplasm contains valuable traits of interest for future breeding programs.

U radu se iznose rezultati istraživanja dinamike: dušika, fosfora, kalija, kalcija i magnezija u listu i plodu tijekom perioda vegetacije u sorti Golden Delicious i Fuji, uzgojenih u gustom sklopu na podlozi M 9. Voćnjak je podignut na lesiviranom ps...

Grapevine collections play an important role, especially in the study of viruses and virus-like pathogens. In 2009, after an initial ELISA screening for eight viruses (arabis mosaic virus, grapevine fanleaf virus, grapevine fleck virus, grapevine leafroll-associated viruses 1, 2, and 3, and grapevine viruses A and B), a collection of 368 grapevine accessions representing 14 different Croatian autochthonous cultivars and containing single or mixed infection of viruses was established to further characterize the viral pathogens. Subsequently, Western blot, RT-PCR, cloning, and sequencing revealed that grapevine rupestris stem pitting-associated virus was frequently found in accessions of the collection, with isolates showing substantial genetic diversity in the helicase and coat protein regions. High-throughput sequencing of 22 grapevine accessions provides additional insight into the viruses and viroids present in the collection and confirms the fact that Croatian autochthonous grapevine cultivars have high infection rates and high virome diversity. The recent spread of “flavescence dorée” phytoplasma in Europe has not spared the collection. After the first symptoms observed in 2020 and 2021, the presence of phytoplasma was confirmed by LAMP in six grapevine accessions and some of them were lost. Single or multiple viruses and viroids, as well as own rooted grapevines in the collection, make the plants susceptible to various abiotic factors, which, together with the recent occurrence of “flavescence dorée”, makes the maintenance of the collection a challenge. Future efforts will be directed towards renewing the collection, as 56% of the original collection has been lost in the last 13 years.