Tracing Fruit Origins: The Prunus-Juglans & RosePom BRCs

The Scientific Council of the French Société Nationale d'Horticulture has organized a series of webinars on the theme of “Where do our fruit species come from? Through this theme, the diversity, and also the usefulness, of some fruit collections from RARe Biological Resource Centers was highlighted by several INRAE and CIRAD researchers.

The Institut de Recherche en Horticulture et Semences (Angers), involved in the RosePom BRC, presented its work on reconstructing the genealogy of old apple varieties, and on the diversity of wild and cultivated pear trees (understanding, protecting, using?).

Researchers from the Fruit Biology and Pathology and Fruit and Vegetable Genetics and Improvement units, members of the BRC Prunus-Juglans, presented the Origin of peach diversity and its use (from China to the orchards of tomorrow), the Origin of cherry trees and the importance of genetic diversity in the face of climate change, and the Chronicle of apricot and almond trees (from the Himalayan foothills to our plates). 

Other presentations focused on the diversity of exotic and forgotten fruits, and highlighted the need for plant material to meet the needs of the fruit industry, particularly in relation to climate change and organoleptic quality. 

Reconstructing the genealogy of old apple varieties by Hélène Muranty

Diversity of wild and cultivated pear trees: understanding it, protecting it, using it?

Tropical fruits, from their origins to our table by Fabrice Le Bellec