The Evaluation and Conservation of Plant Genetic Resources Collected in Lithuania

The present work compiles the results of three-year expeditions organized between 2011 and 2013 aimed at plant crop collection in area Lithuania, an Eastern European country. Accessions fruit trees, vegetables, cereals, forage, industrial, fibrous, medical, spice crops as well accompanying segetal plants were collected 5 ethnographic regions Lithuania. In total, 1010 samples seeds, bulbs, grafts obtained. majority belonged to Cucurbitaceae, Fabaceae, Solanaceae, Alliaceae, Rosaceae families. accessions described deposited long-term storage Lithuanian Polish Gene Banks. Almost all cucumbers, pumpkins, squashes, oat morphologically characterized field experiments. Cucurbita pepo showed high morphological diversity, while limited diversity cucumber was observed. Oat by resistance diseases some investigated accessions. Further characterization apple trees other is underway. Obtaining germplasm Lithuania fulfills a gap current collections. Collected material could be valuable for pre-breeding evaluation further breeding programs study genetic diversity.