Approaches in breeding high quality apples with durable disease resistance

摘要

In organic apple production there is a rising demand for high quality and regularly bearing apple varieties with durable disease resistance. Relying only on single gene resistances such as Rvi6 (Vf) proved to be not a sustainable strategy as resistance breakdown is more and more frequently observed in orchards. Approaches followed by Agroscope in Wadenswil to pyramide several scab (Venturia inaequalisj resistances and combine them with powdery mildew (Podosphaera leucotrichaj resistance and fire blight (Erwinia amylovoraj tolerance are promising. In a joint effort, the EU project 'Fruitbreedomics' contributed to increasing efficiency in marker assisted breeding, a highly useful approach towards successfully pyramiding of resistances. The contribution of old local varieties to broaden the genetic basis in breeding, will also be highlighted.