Molecular Genetics in the Breeding of Horticultural Crops

In view of climate change, it is essential to cultivate climate-adapted and disease-resistant horticultural crops that meet the requirements of ecologically sustainable plant production and the high demands of end consumers. During the 1^ST funding period, two key issues relating to this challenge were already addressed: " botrytis tolerance" and "flower formation & remontance". The work on these two topics will be continued and intensified during the second stage of funding in order to identify and functionally characterize the genetic basis of these breeding traits and subsequently develop the corresponding precision breeding methods. In addition, developmental physiological processes will also be investigated to enable better control of these horticulturally important traits from both a genetic and physiological perspective.

The hydrangea has proven to be a good model for such research. The hydrangea is a perennial plant that is one of the most popular ornamentals in Germany and can be grown both outdoors and in greenhouses. In order to carry out molecular genetic analyses, bioscience methods are applied to hydrangea and then refined. In the first funding period, the main procedures of phenotyping, genome analysis, quantitative genetics and genetic engineering for hydrangea were established, and these will be further developed and applied in more in-depth analyses as part of this research project.

Additional research is being conducted on horticultural crops as part of other externally funded projects.