The explorations carried out by a collecting team over the territory of the northwestern Baikal region made it possible to study the diversity of crop wild relatives (CWR) in 37 natural habitats in Bayandayevsky, Kachugsky, Zhigalovsky, Kazachensky-Lensky, Olkhonsky and Ekhirit-Bulagatsky districts of Irkutsk Province and the North Baikal district of the Republic of Buryatia. As a result, the areas richest in CWR species diversity were identified. Herbarium specimens and 102 seed and layering samples of 56 species from 23 genera representing wild relatives of fodder, legume, fruit, cereal and fiber crops were collected, including endemics listed in the Red Data Books of the Russian Federation, Irkutsk Province and the Republic of Buryatia.

Improved method for the selection of taxa for the regional red list, developed scoring system for inclusion of taxa on the red list CWR and preserve them in situ in the respective regions.

Buzuluksky Bor is the name of the largest woodland in the steppe zone (86,600 ha) of Northern Eurasia, and the only one in the Transvolga steppe. Woody vegetation of this forest consists of conifers (70%) and broadleaf trees (30%). Many of the latter produce edible fruits and berries. In addition to indigenous species, a significant part is formed by the introduced ones which have adapted to the specific conditions of this woodland. In 2007, a large area of the pine forest became part of the Buzuluksky Bor National Park.

Results of studying the oat collection of the N. I. Vavilov All-Russian Institute of Plant Genetic Resources are presented. Field and laboratory evaluation has been carried out to identify accessions which later will be used as source material for the development of promising breeding lines.

The breeding material of oats provided by the breeders of the Moscow Research Institute of Agriculture was assessed on the sites of the Kotlasskoye Federal Enterprise. The article presents the results of the three-year trials (2014-2016) of 57 oats accessions to assess their resistance to loose smut and red-brown leaf spot. According to the results of the tests performed under naturally diseased conditions, two hulled lines (10h2401 and 6h2321) and three hulless ones (38h2273, 11h2267 and 2h2348) were identified as resistant to loose smut, and two lines (10h2401 and 23h2201) as resistant to red-brown leaf spot.

Presented here are the results of studying the apricot gene pool at the South Ural Research Institute of Horticulture and Potato Cultivation (YUNIISK) in the context of the most important economically valuable traits. Varieties and forms of apricot have been identified for their high winter hardiness, fruit quality, and maximum adaptability to major biotic and abiotic factors of the environment -traits of great interest for further breeding work.

The period between shooting and earing stages was investigated in a group of 265 barley accessions from Dagestan. The accessions k-15008 and k-15013 were characterized by the highest development rate in South Dagestan. In Northwest Russia the early accession k-15027 was revealed. In 207 barley accessions the dominant and recessive alleles of the Ppd and VRN genes involved in control of the period between shooting and earing stages were identified with the use of allele-specific molecular markers. Twenty two groups with different allelic combinations of the loci were revealed. The most numerous groups possessed the Ppd-H1Ppd-H2vrn-H1 Vrn-H2vrnH3 and ppd-H1Ppd-H2vrn-H1Vrn-H2vrnH3 allelic combinations and included 59 and 91 accessions correspondingly.

The results of molecular screening of 103 Russian breeding varieties from the VIR potato collection are presented. These varieties were studied for the presence of diagnostic markers associated with the HI and Grol-4 genes conferring resistance to the golden potato cyst nematode - Globodera rostochiensis (Woll.) Behr. - pathotype Ro1. 25 varieties possessed the diagnostic markers of these genes. Among the nematode-resistant varieties, the frequency of genotypes with the diagnostic fragments of 57R and N195 markers of the Hl locus was 98%, and of marker Gro1-4-1 of the Grol-4 gene - 2%.

Proceedings on applied botany, genetics and breeding. Vol. 178. Iss. 4. SPb.: VIR, 2017. P. 80-93. Bibl. 82. The ecogeographical principle of choosing pairs for crossing developed by V. I. Michurin has appeared so effective that it is still used by many plant breeders. Meanwhile, as a result of extensive exchange of breeding material, this ecogeographical approach to the matching of pairs has lost its relevance, being replaced by the new methods of finding phenotypic and genotypic differences between parents. However, new mathematic methods have failed to win similar general recognition. This article reviews the basic methods of choosing parental pairs for crosses in self-pollinated crop breeding. Positive and negative aspects of using these methods in breeding practice are discussed. By now, many facts have been accumulated about the ability of lines in remote generations to reach the F1 yield level. An assumption is made that high-yielding lines may be selected from crosses with high yield in F1. Major problems of pair selection according to the degree of genetic distance between parents are highlighted. Methodical difficulties faced by breeders when they compare different pair selection principles are discussed.

Characteristics of the new malting spring barley cultivar ‘Omsky 100’ are presented. This cultivar, bred at the Siberian Research Institute of Agriculture and submitted for State Trials in 2015, represents the forest-steppe environmental group of varieties. It is characterized by high resistance to lodging, low susceptibility to false loose smut, medium to loose smut, and high to covered smut. As for productivity, 'Omsky 100' is among the high-yielding cultivars in the environments of West Siberia (4.5 t/ha, "+"0.4 t/ha st.). It is responsive to improvement of cultivation conditions (regression coefficient = 2.3; multiplier coefficient = 2.6) and is able to combine high potential yield with its minimal decrease in adverse cultivation environments (homeostaticity = 0.4). Its biochemical indicators correspond to the requirements of the State Standard for malting barley, and it is recommended for use in brewing industry. Key words: common spring barley, growing season, smut incidence, plant height, spike shape, awn serration, kernel color, stability, flexibility, homeostaticity.

Pollen morphology and pollen quality in distant hybrids of the genus Ribes L. were studied in the Russian North-West. A rather high fertility level was found in the studied hybrids, except for the triploid ‘Dlinnokistnaya CGL’. A connection between anomalous morphological features of the pollen wall structure and the pollen fertility level has been found in the studied samples.

This paper presents the data obtained during the assessment of potato varieties and breeding clones from the VIR and LENNIISKh (Belogorka) collections for late blight resistance. Tests were performed in the field under heavy infection of Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary (foliage) and in the laboratory (tubers). Varieties and clones with high and moderate leaf and/or tuber late blight resistance were identified. Leaf and tuber resistance in some varieties depended on the P. infestans population structure and on isolates used for inoculation.

All Elymus L. species are allopolyploids, whereas primary diploids are not part of this genus (with 2n = 14, x = 7). Widespread in Russia are mainly the species with genomic formulae StH, StY and StHY. According to the nomenclature system of Triticeae genomes, in the Russian Federation there are 53 species of Elymus with genomic constitutions StH, StY (2n = 4x = 28) and StHY (2n = 6x = 42). Key words: Elymus, molecular phylogeny, hybridization.

The article presents a brief history of the Russian Botanical Society (RBS) and its Section of Cultivated Plants.