The tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) is a mainly self-pollinating plant belonging to the Solanaceae family. There are several wild species related to the tomato that can be crossed more or less easily.
The tomato collection began at INRAE in 1958 and has been expanded over the years to meet the needs of successive breeding programmes. It currently includes more than 2,500 cultivated tomato accessions from all over the world, as well as around a hundred accessions from 10 related wild species. The core of the collection is made up of round red tomatoes, but it has recently been extended to include accessions of more diverse fruit shape, colour and size (in particular cerasiform tomatoes).
The Tomato Network was set up in 1997 with 12 partners, including 10 seed companies. This network has made it possible to safeguard and pool genetic material, as well as facilitating exchanges between professionals around field trials.
Based on the material pooled by the network, the national tomato collection includes 56 accessions of old varieties of French origin.
For research purposes, INRAE has also created scientific collections, in particular populations of recombinant lines, intra- and interspecific advanced backcrosses and a multi-parental population (MAGIC), representing more than 1,000 accessions.