Wild species of Fragaria L. as a source of valuable agronomic traits for breeding in Northwest Russia

Background. Climate warming requires adaptation of the regional assortment of garden strawberries (Fragaria L.). Breeders face the task of producing new cultivars adapted to higher temperatures in summer and autumn, with resistance to winter thaws.

Materials and methods. In 2022–2025, 108 Fragaria accessions from the VIR collection, including cultivars, wild species, and hybrids, were studied at Pushkin and Pavlovsk Laboratories of VIR.

Results. Principal component analysis of the studied plant characters showed that the main differentiating feature for the species was the number of berries per plant, associated with the duration of flowering and fruiting. Some accessions of wild species surpassed cultivars in a number of characteristics. F. vesca L. demonstrated the potential for early fruit ripening, prolonged fruiting, and resistance to Phomopsis leaf blight, and gray mold; F. moschata Duchesne ex Weston and F. viridis (Duchesne) Weston were identified for winter hardiness; F. viridis and F. orientalis Losinsk showed complex resistance to leaf spot and gray mold; F. mandshurica Staudt and F. chiloensis (L.) Mill. was resistant to gray mold. Wild accessions of F. moschata yielded 8.39 to 9.39 t/ha, which placed them in the group with medium yields. This feature, combined with high organoleptic scores, makes their cultivation in Northwest Russia a reality. High-yielding cultivars of F. × ananassa (> 15 t/ha) were identified for the northwestern conditions: ‘Vladyka Zosima’, ‘Kupava’, ‘Yaroslavna’, ‘Bova’, ‘Altair’, ‘Duet’, ‘Geyzer’, ‘Forsazh’, ‘Darenka’, ‘Torpeda’, ‘Akvarel’, ‘Berdsky Rubin’, ‘Tanyusha’, ‘Jonsok’, and ‘Zabelinskaya’.

Conclusion. Wild Fragaria spp. showed the potential for expanding the assortment of garden strawberries through distant hybridization or direct introduction into cultivation.

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