Head of element:  Dean Ban, PhD

Suradnici na elementu: associate professor Sandro Bogdanović, PhD; Smiljana Goreta Ban, PhD; Igor Lukić, PhD; Igor Palčić, PhD; Marko Černe, PhD; Zoran Užila, MSc

Activity 1: Conservation of plant genetic resources

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

(1) Defining conditions for maintaining varieties in isolated conditions of an „insect free“ greenhouse in which the virus free material will be maintained in a sustainable way and with no risk for reinfection.

(2) Research on the efficiency of current virus elimination protocols based on meristem culture compared to cryotherapy; research related to the development of cryopreservation protocol for grapevine varieties.

Relation to the goals: The activity is related to objective 1 in the part regarding the establishment of a collection of plant genetic resources of Brassica spp. and Allium spp. cultivars for the purpose of describing and evaluating their morphological and agronomic characteristics, providing plant material for further analysis within phenotypisation and genotypisation activities and conservation of plant genetic resources of the collected populations of traditional cultivars.

Activity 2: Phenotyping

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

(1) Equipping and setting up of the Laboratory for phenotypisation at the Institute of Agriculture and Tourism in Poreč.

(2) Analysis of Brassica spp. and Allium spp. samples from the base collections and determination of their mineral composition as well as aromatic and bioactive compounds content.

(3) Isolation of genotypes with desirable characteristics of efficient uptake, translocation and utilization of soil nutrients, which makes them suitable for cultivation in low-input production systems; isolation of potentially nutritionally more useful genotypes and genotypes accumulating more aromatic and/or bioactive compounds.

Relation to the goal: The activity is related to objective 1 in the section regarding the implementation of phenotypisation of Brassica spp. and Allium spp. base collections for the purpose of determining the biochemical diversity and added value of the collected populations of traditional cultivars.

Activity 3: Genotyping 

ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION

(1) DNA and RNA isolation of plant material from the base collections of traditional Brassica spp. and Allium spp. cultivars and sequencing of genomes and transcripts using the new generation sequencing method.

(2) Application of molecular markers (SSR, AFLP).

(3) Determination of the phylogenetic relations in the base collections of traditional leafy kale cultivars (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) and wild populations of Brassica spp. (Brassica incana, Brassica botterii, Brassica cazzae and Brassica mollis) and traditional Allium spp. cultivars.

(4) Bioinformatic processing of obtained results.

Relation to the goals: The activity is related to objective 1 in the part regarding the genotyping of Brassica spp. and Allium spp. base collections for the purpose of estimating genetic variability, population structure and phylogenetic relationships in the base collections of traditional leafy kale cultivars (Brassica oleracea var. acephala) and wild populations of Brassica spp. (Brassica Incans, Brassica botterii, Brassica cazzae and Brassica mollis) and traditional Allium spp. cultivars.