European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Report of a Working Resources ECP GR Group on Prunus Sixth Meeting, 20-21 June 2003, Budapest, Hungary Seventh Meeting, 1-3 December 2005, Larnaca, Cyprus L. Maggioni and E. Lipman, compilers IPGRI and INIBAP operate under the name Bioversity International Supported by the CGIAR European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Report of a Working Resources ECP GR Group on Prunus Sixth Meeting, 20 –21 June 2003, Budapest, Hungary Seventh Meeting, 1 –3 December 2005, Larnaca, Cyprus L. Maggioni and E. Lipman, compilers ii REPORT OF A WORKING GROUP ON PRUNUS: SIXTH AND SEVENTH MEETINGS Bioversity International is an independent international scientific organization that seeks to improve the well- being of present and future generations of people by enhancing conservation and the deployment of agricultural biodiversity on farms and in forests. It is one of 15 centres supported by the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), an association of public and private members who support efforts to mobilize cutting-edge science to reduce hunger and poverty, improve human nutrition and health, and protect the environment. Bioversity has its headquarters in Maccarese, near Rome, Italy, with offices in more than 20 other countries worldwide. The Institute operates through four programmes: Diversity for Livelihoods, Understanding and Managing Biodiversity, Global Partnerships, and Commodities for Livelihoods. The international status of Bioversity is conferred under an Establishment Agreement which, by January 2006, had been signed by the Governments of Algeria, Australia, Belgium, Benin, Bolivia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, China, Congo, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Ecuador, Egypt, Greece, Guinea, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Israel, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco, Norway, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Senegal, Slovakia, Sudan, Switzerland, Syria, Tunisia, Turkey, Uganda and Ukraine. Financial support for Bioversity’s research is provided by more than 150 donors, including governments, private foundations and international organizations. For details of donors and research activities please see Bioversity’s Annual Reports, which are available in printed form on request from bioversity- [email protected] or from Bioversity’s Web site (www.bioversityinternational.org). The European Cooperative Programme for Plant Genetic Resources (ECPGR) is a collaborative programme among most European countries aimed at facilitating the long-term conservation and the increased utilization of plant genetic resources in Europe. The Programme, which is entirely financed by the member countries and is coordinated by Bioversity International, is overseen by a Steering Committee composed of National Coordinators nominated by the participating countries and a number of relevant international bodies. The Programme operates through nine networks in which activities are carried out through a number of permanent working groups or through ad hoc actions. The ECPGR networks deal with either groups of crops (cereals; forages; fruit; oil and protein crops; sugar, starch and fibre crops; vegetables, medicinal and aromatic plants) or general themes related to plant genetic resources (documentation and information; in situ and on-farm conservation; inter-regional cooperation). Members of the working groups and other scientists from participating countries carry out an agreed workplan with their own resources as inputs in kind to the Programme. The geographical designations employed and the presentation of material in this publication do not imply the expression of any opinion whatsoever on the part of Bioversity or the CGIAR concerning the legal status of any country, territory, city or area or its authorities, or concerning the delimitation of its frontiers or boundaries. Similarly, the texts and taxonomic definitions in these proceedings reflect the views of the respective authors and not necessarily those of the compilers or their institutions. Mention of a proprietary name does not constitute endorsement of the product and is given only for information. Citation: L. Maggioni and E. Lipman, compilers. 2006. Report of a Working Group on Prunus. Sixth Meeting, 20-21 June 2003, Budapest, Hungary / Seventh Meeting, 1-3 December 2005, Larnaca, Cyprus. Bioversity International, Rome, Italy. Cover illustration: Japanese cherry (Prunus serrulata); courtesy of © H. Christmann, INRA Bordeaux, France. Cherry (P. avium) Hedelfinger mutant; courtesy of © D. Szalatnay, ACW, Switzerland. Cherry plum (P. cerasifera) in Armenia, near Geghard; courtesy of © R. Levi-Yamamori. Acknowledgements to Dr Lesley Currah for English language editing. ISBN-13: 978-92-9043-732-1 ISBN-10: 92-9043-732-4 Bioversity International Via dei Tre Denari 472/a 00057 Maccarese Rome, Italy © Bioversity International, 2006 iii In memoriam "You CAN do it - you only have to show people HOW to do it" Fabrizio Grassi iv REPORT OF A WORKING GROUP ON PRUNUS: SIXTH AND SEVENTH MEETINGS CONTENTS v CONTENTS PART I. REPORT OF THE SIXTH MEETING, 20-21 JUNE 2003, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY 1 PART II. REPORT OF THE SEVENTH MEETING, 1-3 DECEMBER 2005, LARNACA, CYPRUS 9 PART III. PRESENTATIONS AND PAPERS 27 APPENDICES 111 INDEX OF AUTHORS 138 vi REPORT OF A WORKING GROUP ON PRUNUS: SIXTH AND SEVENTH MEETINGS SIXTH MEETING – DISCUSSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 1 PART I. REPORT OF THE SIXTH MEETING, 20-21 JUNE 2003, BUDAPEST, HUNGARY A. Zanetto, K.R. Tobutt, F. Dosba, L. Maggioni and E. Lipman Introduction 2 Updates on Prunus genetic resources activities in different countries 2 The European Prunus Database (EPDB): status of progress, accessibility on Internet, inclusion of new data, future development 3 Inclusion of data 3 Suggestions for queries 3 Proposals for further development 3 Catalogue of the European Prunus accessions 4 Molecular markers 4 Decentralized European Prunus Collection (DEPC) 4 Use of collections and relationship with the Prunus breeding sector 4 Phytosanitary status of collections 5 International agreements on access to genetic resources 5 Prunus Newsletter 5 Attributes of European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) and EUFORGEN’s Noble Hardwood Network 6 Wild cherry breeding in Flanders 6 Funding opportunities from the European Union 6 Perspectives for the future of the Working Group on Prunus 7 Next meeting 7 Proposal of new Chair and Vice-Chair 7 2 REPORT OF A WORKING GROUP ON PRUNUS Introduction Elisabeth Kallay, Director of the Research Institute for Fruitgrowing and Ornamentals, Budapest, welcomed participants at the sixth meeting of the ECP/GR1 Working Group on Prunus to the Institute. She explained that the Institute is 50 years old and has particular experience of fruit and tree breeding and genetic resources conservation, for example in sweet and sour cherries, and walnut. Other work on fruit includes the distribution of virus- free propagating material, advising growers on the choice of sites, and nutrition, storage and physiology. There are offices and a laboratory at Budapest and a research farm with 600 ha at Erd, 13 km away from the Institute, where the stone fruit collections are located. E. Kallay concluded by introducing several colleagues. Françoise Dosba, Chair of the Working Group, thanked E. Kallay and explained that on this occasion, Lorenzo Maggioni, ECP/GR Coordinator, was unable to attend. She asked the participants to introduce themselves. For the benefit of new members, F. Dosba then briefly introduced the recent activities of the Working Group by reporting on the extraordinary meeting of the ECP/GR Working Group on Prunus and the final coordination meeting of the EU project GEN RES 61 that was held in Gembloux in 2000, in conjunction with the Fruit Network Coordinating Group. An account had been presented of the successful GEN RES 61 project on Prunus genetic resources which had been funded by the EU and by ECP/GR for Community and non-Community countries respectively. It was the first example of such a jointly funded project. An update on Internet access to the European Prunus Database (EPDB) had been presented and opportunities for the integration of molecular markers had been discussed. The establishment of a Decentralized European Prunus Collection (DEPC) had been advocated, and the possibilities for amalgamating with the Malus/Pyrus Working Group and for more interactions with the Noble Hardwood Network of the European Forest Genetic Resources Programme (EUFORGEN) had been raised. Information about the Working Group had been presented in posters and oral presentations at various meetings. The report of GEN RES 61 was submitted in 2000 and a paper has been published.2 F. Dosba outlined the programme of the meeting. She explained that it would focus on updates of the status of national collections, improved accessibility to the EPDB, the constitution of the DEPC and the opportunities within the new EU programme on genetic resources. Updates on Prunus genetic resources activities in different countries Zsuzsanna Békefi (Hungary), Edite Kaufmane (Latvia), Vladislav Ognjanov (Serbia and Montenegro) and Costas Gregoriou (Cyprus) gave informative reports on recent activities in their countries concerning conservation, collecting, evaluation or characterization of Prunus genetic resources (see Part III). Points arising from these presentations included the unreliable performance of some reference cultivars,