Scientific investigations conducted at VIR during 1960-2014 to identify sources of new promising and economically useful traits in rye resulted in the development of genetic donors of such traits capable of increasing breeders’ work efficiency. These results helped to initiate the development of new priority trends in winter rye breeding, such as breeding of heterosis hybrid cultivars, semi-dwarf non-lodging cultivars, cultivars resistant to fungal diseases, semi-dwarf forms with higher productivity on the basis of plant photosynthesis potential optimization, and rye cultivars with low pentosan content for universal utilization.

Over 40 years, Inna Nikitichna Golubovskaya studied the fundamental problem of genetic control of meiosis, using meiosis in Zea mays as the model. She discovered more than half of 50 genes and gene alleles controlling meiosis in maize anthers and ovules, and studied even more of them. Having started with her researches at the Institute of Cytology and Genetics, Siberian Branch of the USSR Academy of Sciences (Novosibirsk) in 1972, she moved in 1986 to the N. I. Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (Leningrad/St. Petersburg) to become the leader of a research group. In 1993, she started to collaborate with the Department of Biology, University of North Dakota (USA). There she worked during the field seasons until 1998. In 1999, Dr. Golubovskaya was invited to work with the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, California State University at Berkeley. She developed and maintained a seed collection of genetic maize lines bearing mutations of meiotic genes, and in 2012 brought it to the Vavilov Institute. She was actively involved in cloning and studying major genes regulating meiosis in maize at the molecular level, and their expression in meiotic process. I. N. Golubovskaya’s contribution to the studies on maize genetics and genetic control of meiosis was expressly extolled by American geneticists.

Competitive varieties of covered and naked oats resistant and/or tolerant to region-specific ecological factors limiting their productivity have been developed by selection and hybridization techniques using the germplasm from VIR’s oat collection. Among them there are oats varieties widely cultivated in Russia, such as Argamak, Krechet and Gunter, and new varieties Sapsan and Avatar combining high productivity (8-11.2 t/ha) with resistanceto biotic and abiotic stressors. From 250 up to 350 oat samples are evaluated annually in parallel collection nurseries on two cultivated (Kirov and Falenki) and one naturally acidified (Falenki, 13.45-17.23 mg-equiv. Al^{3 +}/100 g of soil) plots of soddy-podzolic soils. It is shown that expanding the spectrum of recombinations requires development of mixedhybrids on the basis of covered and naked genotypes. Thus, using covered and naked source materials in crossings, the naked oat cultivar Persheron has been released and included in the State Register of Breeding Achievements of the Russian Federation since 2013; and the covered oat cultivar Medved with high grain quality has been submitted to the State Crop Variety Trials.

The national collection of apple-tree varieties consisting of 1,273 accessions was used to develop genetically diverse source material developed involving progenies of wild small-fruit apple species (Sorbomalus, Baccatae and Prunifolia) - sources and donors of immunity to scab and powdery mildew. A new trait-specific working collection of fungal disease resistance sources and donors has been established. Using molecular markers made it possible to identify large-fruit donors with 2-3 oligogenes of apple scab resistance in the same genome, and small-fruit donors with 1-3 oligogenes of powdery mildew resistance. New late-ripening apple-tree cultivars Belana, Diyament, Zorka, Krasavita, Navavita and Sakavita with high scab resistance and high fruit quality have been developed.

The article presents the results of studying VIR’s potato collection. Following such study, the best cultivars of potato are recommended as source material for breeding programs targeted at basic commercial traits, such as high yield, starch content, resistance to late blight (Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary) and Ro1 pathotype of golden potato cyst nematode (Globodera rostochiensis (Woll.) Behr.). Described here are the cultivars combining resistance to gold potato cyst nematode with other valuable commercial traits. The identified genotypes are recommended to be included in potato breeding programs.

Evaluated in the environments of the North-West of Russia were 75 accessions of fibre flax varieties bred in China. They were planted for 2-3 years during the period from 2006 to 2012. As a result of the study, new sources of valuable agronomic characters were identified.

Twenty-six flax accessions of diverse ecogeographic origin from VIR’s collection (4 from Russia, 3 from Kazakhstan, 2 from Mongolia, 2 from Portugal, 1 from Spain, and 14 from France) were evaluated in 2009-2011 at the experimental field of the Siberian Institute of Agriculture and Peat located in the subtaiga zone of Western Siberia with continental climate. Using the two-factor variance and correlation analyses, the effect of genotypes andenvironments on the expression of plant characters and correlations between them were studied. The accessions with best agronomic traits - k -1338 (Kazakhstan), k-1436 (Altai province), k-1439 (Kazakhstan), k-6085 (Portugal), k-7454 (France), k-7359 (Portugal), k- 7460 (France), k-7470 (France), and k-8289 (France) - were recognized as promising source material and were involved in the breeding process as paternal parent forms. Twenty hybrid combinations were obtained, and 440 plants were placed into the screening nursery.

Climate requirements of early soybean forms have been evaluated in the planting-shooting and shooting-flowering interphase periods under the conditions of the Russian Northwest. The mean temperature is the principal factor regulating the duration of these periods. The duration of the period from planting to shooting within the interval from 10°C to 19°C has reduced with the growth of mean temperatures, and at temperatures above 19°C becomes constant (minimum). The duration of the period from shooting to flowering has reduced with the growth of temperatures, and for several accessions has become constant at temperatures above 19°C. Another, though less important factor determining the duration of these periods is rainfall. Absence of rainfall at the planting phase delays germination. Excessive rainfall in the shooting-flowering period delays the beginning of flowering.

Since 2003, a large-scale study of spring triticale source material of different ecogeographic origin was carried out to launch the breeding work with this crop in the non-black-soil zone of Russia. Accessions and populations from the collections and nurseries of CIMMYT (Mexico), Vavilov Institute, Krasnodar Agricultural Research Institute and Science and Production Centre for Agriculture (Belarus) were evaluated. The breeding process was arranged according to the ecological principle: identification of the required sources and the study of hybrid populations and the developed breeding lines were done concurrently at several sites under different environmental conditions. As a result, four cultivars of spring triticale have been included in the State Register.

This article analyzes the data of researching ecological variability of important agronomic traits in potato varieties introduced under the severe climate conditions of the Altai Mountains after several years of environmental variety trials in different altitudinal zones of the Altai Republic. The trials were performed for 31 potato cultivars of various maturity groups. They made it possible to identify varieties most suitable for cultivation in the areas of testing, with high levels of productivity and stable manifestation of this trait under different weather conditions. The analysis was based on the methods suitable for assessing the interaction between factors and all the traits, with consequent evaluation of variations in individual traits under different environmental factors.