Report of the ECPGR Network Coordinating Groups.
First Meeting,
29-31 March 2006, Bonn, Germany
[PDF file 566KB]

Working Groups

Malus / Pyrus

Prunus

Vitis

	Latest news		Sharing of responsibilities
	Background information		Standards for conservation
	Link with EU project		Movement of germplasm
	Central Crop Databases (CCDBs)

Latest news

The Fruit Network held an ad hoc meeting on fingerprinting of Prunus, Malus / Pyrus and Vitis in East Malling, United Kingdom, on 7-8 December 2006. A second ad hoc meeting will follow in Gembloux, Belgium in 2008, on synonymy of Prunus, Malus / Pyrus and Vitis cultivars. An ad hoc meeting of the four Fruit Database Managers (Malus, Prunus, Pyrus and Vitis) is planned to be held in 2008 as well (place and date to be confirmed).
In the same year, an ad hoc meeting on in situ and on-farm conservation of Prunus, Malus / Pyrus and Vitis is planned to be held in Dresden, Germany.

Background information

The Fruit Network is overseen by a Network Coordinating Group (NCG), composed of the Working Group Chairs plus a number of other coopted Network members.

The responsibilities of the Network Coordinating Group are:

• To formulate proposals, in consultation with WGs, or in the case of thematic networks other active groups, for the attention of the SC on WG priorities and activities, following the planning and prioritizing mechanism established by the SC

• To define the WGs to remain prioritized during the 5-year Phase, according to the planning and prioritizing mechanism established by the SC

A meeting of the ECPGR Network Coordinating Groups took place in Bonn,  Germany, on 29-31 March 2006. See:
Report of the ECPGR Network Coordinating Groups. First Meeting, 29-31 March 2006, Bonn, Germany.
Presentations given during the NCGs meeting

The main implementation of the Network activities is through the Working Groups on Malus / Pyrus, Prunus and Vitis.

Link with EU project

A one-day Fruit Network ad hoc preparatory meeting for EU project proposal AGRI GEN RES 870/2004 on wild fruit conservation was held in Gembloux, Belgium, 18 February 2005. The title of the project was eventually agreed during the Prunus Working Group meeting (December 2005, Larnaca, Cyprus), as: "Sustainable management of European Fruit Tree Biodiversity and Enhancement of its Utilization (BIODIFRUIT)". The project, which is expected to be submitted to the second call for proposals in 2006, covers Prunus, Malus and Pyrus crops and will be coordinated by M. Lateur (Agricultural Research Center, Gembloux, Belgium) and K. Tobutt (East Malling Research, UK).

Central Crop Databases (CCDBs)

The main achievement of the Fruit Network has been the establishment of the Central Crop Databases, such as the Prunus, Malus and Pyrus databases. The European Vitis database, developed by the EU project GEN RES 81, has also benefited from the collaboration of ECPGR. A database on minor fruits, developed by the EU project GEN RES 29, is another element of the fruit germplasm information system in Europe.
A Ribes / Rubus database is under development since 2002.

Sharing of responsibilities

The Prunus and Malus / Pyrus WGs developed concepts for the establishment of decentralized European collections. The next challenge for the Network is to move from the theoretical concept into the practical implementation. See:

Prunus concept

Malus / Pyrus concept

Standards for conservation

Establishment of uniform standards for the conservation of fruit germplasm and of the most appropriate methods for fruit tree conservation (such as cryopreservation, in vitro growth, in situ, ex situ, etc.) are under discussion, as well as the elaboration of a strategy to include available information on molecular markers in the DBs. The following uniform standards for conservation of fruit germplasm were proposed at the Fruit Network Coordinating Group meeting in Gembloux, Belgium, November 1999:

Two trees per accession and two sites per cultivar
Propagation of scion cultivars to be by budding or grafting on to health clonal rootstocks
Propagation of rootstock cultivars to be by budding, grafting or cutting
Good phytosanitary conditions to be maintained especially in relation to quarantine pests and diseases

Movement of germplasm

The difficulty of exchanging fruit propagating material between countries is another issue that has been brought to the attention of the Network. Legal and phytosanitary constraints are limiting the free and safe movement of germplasm. A study on this subject would be welcome, in order to advise the Working Groups on possible solutions.