Genetic resources of pome fruis in the Nikitsky Botanical Garden

Annotation. Based on many years of work with collections of pome fruits, data on the main economically valuable characteristics of apple, pear and quince varieties were collected and analyzed. The article provides information on the composition and ecological and geographic origin of genetic resources of pome fruits of the Nikitsky Botanical Garden. The collection of apple trees is represented by 1783 varieties, pears – 1348, quinces – 227. The working hybrid fund of these crops includes about 4 thousand hybrids. The purpose of the research is to study the varietal collection of apple, pear and quince trees in order to identify new sources of economically valuable signs of their use in breeding programs. As a result of long-term research from the gene pool collection of apple, pear and quince, the sources of the main breeding-significant traits of interest for use in breeding programs have been identified. For breeding, the most interesting varieties are those that combine a complex of economically valuable characteristics (early fruitfulness, low tree growth, late flowering, very early and late fruit ripening, high commercial and taste qualities, high yield capacity, resistance to biotic and abiotic environmental factors). According to the pear, such varieties include: Diva, Biryuzovaya, Nadezhda Stepi, Kel'menchanka, Mariya, Zhak Tel'ye, Desertnaya, Yakimovskaya, Tavricheskaya, Konferentsiya, Noyabr'skaya, Izumrudnaya, Izyuminka Kryma, Veresneve Divo, Rada, Oliv'ye de Serr, Kirgizskaya zimnyaya, Nezabudka; according to the apple tree – Ayvaniya, Akane, Auraliya, Boskopskaya Krasavitsa, Vil'yams Prayd, Grinslivz, Zarya Alatau, Kal'vil' Letniy, King Devid, Medeya, Predgornoye, Rozotsvet, Skifiya, Tavriya, Edera; according to quince – Gladkoplodnaya, Desertnaya, Zoloto Tavridy, Konservnaya Pozdnyaya, Mir, Novoselovskaya, Stepnaya, Osenniy Suvenir, Yantarnaya. Key words: collection, apple, pear, quince, breeding, variety, valuable signs