Institute of Genetics,
Physiology and Plant Protection

Head:  Anatol GANEA,  PhD
Laboratory staff:  18, including 14  researchers, 9 PhD in biology and agriculture

Research directions

• Study of crop wild relatives of some culture (inventorying of populations and their evaluation) în forest ecosystems of Republic of Moldova;
• GPS-positioning and collecting the landraces and other local forms of cultivated species in rural areas;
• Ex situ evaluation of the specimens of cereal, pulse, leguminous, tecnical, nontraditional and new species by morfo-biological, physiological and biochemical characteristics in the field, glass house  and laboratory conditions;
• Creation and ex situ conservation of the works, actives, base and national collections of agricultural plants and their wild relatives, search and utilization of methods for increasing the viability of germplasm after its long term prezervation;
• Maintaining and administration of the National Informational System relating to plant agrobiodiversity.

Relevant results

GPS-positioning and description of in situ populations of some crop wild relatives (5 pilot species) were made in forest ecosystems of all soil-climatic zones of the Republic of Moldova and valuable sources of germplasm were identified. Over 1.2 thousand of local forms of cultivated plants related to 35 botanical species and subspecies were collected in 15 regions of the country. Over 2 thousand of cultivars, lines, hybrid populations, mutant forms, and wild plant species were studied in field experiments, and genotypes with valuable productivity and resistance traits were selected. New cultivars of tomato, pepper and eggplant were obtained. Positive influence of millimeter waves on increase of seed viability was demonstrated through the example of genotypes of cereal, technical, vegetable and medicinal crops, protective and reparative effects of radiation were revealed, that is important for seed material preserved for a long time in ex situ collections. Passportization of spiked cereals was performed with regard to polyphenol oxidase enzyme activity, content of crude gluten and gliadins: glutenins ratio; passportization of hybrid populations of chickpea – with regard to water-soluble seed protein fraction. ReGen and Cartoteca informational systems were developed and were used for input and management of data on specimens of ex situ collections of plant genetic resources and germplasm conserved in situ.

Business proposals

As a result of complex evaluation of collection specimens at the level of sporophyte and male gametophyte, new breeding material of pulse and vegetable crops was obtained using breeding and genetic methods. The following cultivars were proposed: