DEPARTMENT OF GENETICS AND BREEDING
Department activities- Breeding of fruit species - apple, cherry, plum and apricot.
- More than 87 varieties of fruit species and rootstocks have been bred and registered.
- The most successful are the varieties of cherries grown all over the world - "Kordia" and "Tamara".
- Breeding is focused on high market quality of fruits and resistance of plants to abiotic and biotic stresses, accumulation and pyramidization of resistance genes, prolongation of fruit storage and increase of yield of seedlings from hybrid seeds using so-called embryo-rescue techniques.
- Breeding of columnar apple varieties resistant to apple scab.
- Selection of breeding material in the early stages of plant development using genetic markers (Marker assisted selection - MAS) and study of gene expression.
- Testing of new varieties of kernels, stone fruits and strawberries for use in the conditions of the Czech Republic.
- Innovation of growing technologies regarding the organic fruit production, overlapping growing systems and auxiliary plant preparations for cherry production.
- Gas and liquid chromatography - determination of content substances in fruit, including the presence of undesirable substances (pesticide residues and other contaminants).
- Near-infrared spectroscopy (NIR) and its use in the non-destructive determination of the content of substances in fruit and fruit products.
- For new fruit varieties - optimization of storage conditions in a low-oxygen atmosphere (ULO), use of storage methods in modified atmosphere storage (MAP), use of 1-Methylcyclopropene to prolong storage and treatment of fruits with ozone, determination of fruit ripeness, basic processing characteristics.
- Production of kernel fruit, stone fruit and small fruit.
- Production of fruit trees of new varieties bred in VŠÚO.
- Production of kernel fruit propagating material - grafts and eyelets in certified and CAC quality.
- Advice on given research topics.
- Advice on the use of new varieties of fruit and their pollination rates.
- Advice on the establishment and maintenance of fruit tree plantations (tree lines, urban plantations, orchards, etc.).
- License for the propagation of varieties of fruit species (concluding contracts for varieties in the Czech Republic, consulting activities for varieties in the EU from ARTEVOS), advice on the protection of plant variety rights in the Czech Republic and in the world.
GENE POOL DEPARTMENT
Department activities- Long-term preservation of selected fruit species in field collections for the needs of future generations.
- Introduction of promising varieties from abroad to ensure breeding programs with suitable genotypes with valuable properties (resistance to diseases, pests and adverse environmental conditions, pollen sterility, fruit quality, etc.).
- Evaluation of significant economic features, database update.
- Active search for important local varieties in the Czech Republic and their inclusion in the preserved gene pool.
- Research of modern biotechnological methods for gene pool storage - cryopreservation.
- Healing of fruit crops by chemotherapy in in vitro culture conditions.
- Determination of pollination ratios for apples, pears and cherries.
- In vitro breeding of fruit crops.
- Research of methodical procedures for growing gooseberries and currants.
- Methodical guidance for growing lesser-known fruit crops (Canadian blueberries, sea buckthorn, etc.).
- Research of new technologies of fruit crop storage.
- Analysis of the internal fruit quality (NIR, etc.).
- Fruit production
- Production of rootstocks and planting of mother fruit trees
- Services, offer for growers
- Healing of fruit crops by chemotherapy inin vitro culture conditions.
- Determination of pollination ratios for apples, pears and cherries.
- In vitrobreeding of fruit crops.
PLANT PROTECTION DEPARTMENT
Department activities- Verification of the effectiveness of alternative and new plant protection products against harmful organisms (animal pests, fungal and bacterial pathogens).
- Study of lethal and sublethal effects of pesticides on beneficial organisms.
- Monitoring of invasive animal pests, fungal and bacterial pathogens of fruit crops in the conditions of the Czech Republic.
- Signaling service on the occurrence and development of diseases and pests of fruit crops.
- Testing of plant protection products in the framework of registration trials (GEP) of new pesticides.
- Problems of pollinators in orchards.
- Study of preventive measures to reduce the infectious source of diseases.
- Monitoring of infection conditions of economically important diseases, such as apple scab, stone fruit twig canker, leaf spot on cherry and pink-flowered fire blight.
- Monitoring the sensitivity of the fungus Venturia inaequalis, the causative agent of apple scab, to commonly used groups of fungicides which are at risk of developing resistance.
- In cooperation with the laboratory of molecular biology, we diagnose pathogens.
- Technical and spatial isolates - production of certified breeding material.
Economic activity
- Production of breeding material for stone fruits and small fruits - rootstocks, grafts and eyes in certified and CAC quality.
- Offer for the professional public
- Cooperation on research projects.
- Consulting activities related to the topics of the protection department, consultations, professional lectures at seminars and conferences.
- Signaling service on the occurrence and development of diseases and pests of fruit crops.
- Implementation of laboratory, small-plot and field tests of plant protection products (GEP/no GEP), comparative experiments.
TECHNOLOGY DEPARTMENT
Department activities- Research of agrotechnical measures and new technologies in orchards with the following focus:
- Nutrition and fertilization of fruit crops.
- Irrigation of intensive orchards.
- Carrying out rootstock experiments.
- Cutting and shaping of fruit trees.
- Research in the field of nursery production technologies.
- Research of the effectiveness of excipients, fertilizers and herbicides.
- Study of the influence of environmental conditions and technologies (influence of soil fatigue, covering systems, etc.) on growth, fertility and quality of fruit production.
- Research of morphology and eco-physiology of fruit trees.
Production of:
- stone and kernel fruit
- young planting material, including tall fruit tree trunks
- base
Contract research in the field of:
- testing the effectiveness of excipients, fertilizers and herbicides
- cultivation technologies
- Determination of the content of mineral elements in soil and plant matter.
LABORATORY COMPLEMENT DEPARTMENT
Department activities
- Research and development in the field of fruit tree genetics and their breeding using modern molecular-biological methods
- Design of systems for genotyping apple, cherry and apricot trees
- Use of molecular biology methods for assisted breeding in apple and cherry trees
- Search for new markers for economically interesting traits in cherries
- Determination of S-alleles in self-pollinated and cross-pollinated cherries
- Research and development in the field of diagnostics of fruit crop pathogens using ELISA and PCR methods
- Introduction of modern methods of diagnostics of plant pathogens
- Identification and detection of new viruses in strawberries.
Services and offer for growers
- Laboratory diagnostics of fruit crop pathogens in an accredited laboratory
Accreditation
A quality management system has been introduced in the laboratories of the Laboratory Complement in accordance with the standard ČSN EN ISO/IEC 17025: 2018 - General requirements for the competence of testing and calibration laboratories. Based on meeting the requirements of this standard, the Laboratory Complement obtained on January 12, 2017 a certificate of accreditation from the Czech Accreditation Institute for the detection of plant pathogens using molecular biological methods, specifically for the Ca Detection method. Phytoplasma spp. 16SrX group with PCR method from plant material. Further details on the accreditation of the Laboratory Complement can be obtained directly on the website of the Czech Accreditation Institute. By the decision of the Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture (ÚKZÚZ) of June 24, 2014, the Research and Breeding Fruit Institute Holovousy, s.r.o. is entrusted with the performance of professional activities of the reference laboratory for diagnostics of apple proliferation phytoplasma and plum pox virus diagnostics. Decision to entrust the performance of the professional activity of the reference laboratory:Rozhodnuti_RefLab_140624.pdf
The Central Institute for Supervising and Testing in Agriculture (ÚKZÚZ) has extended the mandate of the Research and Breeding Fruit Institute Holovousy, s.r.o. to perform testing of propagating material of hops and fruit species for the presence of harmful organisms, the list and methods of testing are given in Annex 2 (No.: 64262/2017-MZE-17221) of the National Recovery Program for the Recovery of Propagating Material (NOPRM). Decision to authorize the testing of propagating material:
Rozhodnuti_NOPRM_190821.pdf
