Contact details
Address: School of Agriculture, Policy and Development, University of Reading-Reading-RG6 6AR-United Kingdom
Legal Status: Public research institution
Email [1] Website [2]
Material
Plant
| Cereals | Potatoes | ||||
| Grasses | Beets (sugar, fodder) | ||||
| Legumes | Oil crops | ||||
| Fibre crops | Vine | X | Grape | ||
| Vegetables | Fruits | X | Apple, Pear, Cherry, Plum, Currant, Gooseberry, Hazelnut | ||
| Ornamental crops | X | Malus, Prunus, Pyrus | Model plants (arabidospsis, medigaco spp, etc.) |
Type of material maintained:
| Modern breeds and varieties | Traditional breeds and varieties | Populations | Other(s) |
| X | X | X |
Type of material stored:
| Living collections | Sperm | Egg cells | Seeds | Tissue cultures | Cells | Other(s) |
| X |
Collection description:
Date of start of the collection/population: < 1980
Expected period of maintenance of the collection (in years): > 25
Size of the collection (number of breeds): 3970
Evolution of the size of the collection (last 10 years): ↘ > 20%
Objectives and identity
Geographic origin of the material in the collection: International
Population management:
- ex situ
Objective of maintaining the collection/population:
| Conservation | Research | Breeding | Training | Awareness raising | Other(s) |
| X | X | X | X |
Activities
Management
| Use of available technical guidelines (e.g. FAO) | No |
| Use of unique identifier | Yes |
| Use of a documentation system | Yes We maintain a public database on the collection |
| Collection as part of a larger documentation system |
National inventory: UK National Plant Inventory European inventory: EURISCO Other: |
| Database management system (software) |
Excel My-SQL |
| Document passport data | Yes |
| Link to passport data | www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk |
| Document characterisation data | www.nationalfruitcollection.org.uk |
Duplication of material and documentation
Material: Partially
Documentation: Partially
Testing
| Viability testing of stored material: | No |
| Diagnosis of the presence of pests and diseases, or contaminations: | Frequently |
| Transgene detection: | No |
| Regeneration/multiplication: | Yes, but rarely |
| Molecular analysis (e.g. DNA sequencing or fingerprinting): | Yes, but rarely |
| Evaluation of useful traits: | Frequently |
Overall viability level of your collection
Very good: The collections are well managed with an ongoing program of maintenance and curation.
Percentage of the collection regenerated (per year): 2
Storage conditions of the collection
- Living field bank
- Cryo bank
Access and distribution conditions
| Providers | Recipients |
| No written agreement | Use of Standard MTA of International Treaty on PGR for Food and Agriculture (ITPGRFA) |
Distribution of material (per year)
| Number of distributed samples | 75 |
| Percentage of requests which are fulfilled | >75% |
Budget and funding
Yearly budget for the collection (in euros): > 250,000
Funding sources (in %)
| National government | 98% |
| Private | 2% |