The French INRAE Biological Resource Center for pome fruits and roses: Plant and DNA collections of traditional and research genetic resources

The Biological Resource Center (BRC) ’Pome fruits and roses’ is hosted by INRAE near Angers, France. It includes collections of apple, pear, quince and rose. The apple, pear and quince collections are preserved in orchards on site and as DNA samples. Research accessions of the Rosa genus are preserved both in the field and as DNA samples, whereas traditional accessions are primarily maintained as DNA samples. Traditional roses accessions are preserved in the field by different private and public rose gardens in France. The main BRC’s mission is to preserve these biological resources while improving and optimizing its collections. It also aims to gather and enrich data associated with the conserved genetic accessions, in particular by recording and centralizing phenotypic and genetic characterization data. This ensures the provision of suitable biological material and data for research and selection purposes. Additionally, these data support genetic resources management, especially in the framework of the apple and pear French networks coordinated by BRC. Thanks to these data, pedigrees could be unravelled and association studies implemented.