Alfalfa is an autotetraploid, allogamous and heterozygous forage legume, whose varieties are synthetic populations. Due to the complex nature of the species, information about genetic diversity of germplasm used in any alfalfa breeding program is most beneficial. The genetic diversity of five alfalfa varieties, involved in progeny tests at Institute of Field and Vegetable Crops, was characterized based on RAPD markers. A total of 60 primers were screened, out of which 17 were selected for the analysis of genetic diversity. A total of 156 polymorphic bands were generated, with 10.6 bands per primer. Number and percentage of polymorphic loci, effective number of alleles, expected heterozygosity and Shannon’s information index were used to estimate genetic variation. Variety Zuzana had the highest values for all tested parameters, exhibiting the highest level of variation, whereas variety RSI 20 exhibited the lowest. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed that 88.39% of the total genetic variation was attributed to intra-varietal variance. The cluster analysis for individual samples and varieties revealed differences in their population structures: variety Zuzana showed a very high level of genetic variation, Banat and Ghareh were divided in subpopulations, while Pecy and RSI 20 were relatively uniform. Ways of exploiting the investigated germplasm in the breeding programs are suggested in this paper, depending on their population structure and diversity. The RAPD analysis shows potential to be applied in analysis of parental populations in semi-hybrid alfalfa breeding program in both, development of new homogenous germplasm, and identification of promising, complementary germplasm.

Several field collecting trips in the 2009-2011 period confirmed that forest fruit species are an inexhaustible genofond of extremely important varieties that yield fruit of excellent quality and high nutritive value, with wide range of applications, including nutritional, medicinal and food production. The aim of this work was to develop long term interactive and integrated strategy for selection of wild fruit species through different breeding methods, as well as popularization of selected products and their integration into intensive fruit growing. The most important morphological, ecological, and biological characteristics were studied and presented for Cornus mas, Sambucus nigra, Morus sp. and Rosa sp. For each studied fruit species, advanced selections for cultivar release has been reported.

The search for growth-reducing rootstocks has produced selections of ‘Oblačinska’ sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.) and European ground cherry (Prunus fruticosa Pall.). The methodological approach to germplasm collection was a compromise between a search for specific characters and random sampling of the population. On the principle of 19 variables in 27 accessions, this research brought valuable and diverse plant material into rootstock breeding. The vigour of adult trees on their own roots ranged from extremely weak, such as in selections of European ground cherry (SV1, SV3, SV4) and ‘Oblačinska’ sour cherry (OV31), to vigorous genotypes such as sour cherry (OV33 and OV34) and P. mahaleb. The natural habit of untrained trees varied from upright (e.g., SV7) to dropping (e.g., SV2). Internode lengths ranged from 1.36 cm (in SV8) to 4.11 cm (in SV4). Based on a PCA scatter-plot, six diverse sub-groups showing significant intra- and inter-species variability were distinguished. These findings were supported by high values of heritability, from 78.83 – 92.20%, implying the potential for successful selection of dwarfing genotypes based on their phenotypic characters in succeeding breeding activities. Preliminary field studies suggested that the ‘Oblačinska’ genotypes OV31 and OV32, as well as the European ground cherry genotypes SV1, SV2, and SV4, may represent rootstocks with the lowest vigour.