Project Name

FRUITDIV – EXPLOITING THE UNTAPPED POTENTIAL OF FRUIT TREE WILD DIVERSITY FOR SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE

 

Funding

HORIZON-RIA – HORIZON Research and Innovation Actions / HORIZON-CL6-2023-BIODIV-01-13 – Crop wild relatives for sustainable agriculture

 

Grant agreement ID:

101133964

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Project Phase

2024 – 2028

 

Project Objectives:

Crop wild relatives (CWR) are wild plant taxa closely related to a crop. They represent an important source of genetic diversity for the improvement of agronomic traits. In the context of the One Health Initiative, temperate fruit trees are essential for human nutrition and health, yet CWR resources have hitherto been underused. Moreover, fruit tree long lifespan and a current production dominated by a few cultivars make them particularly vulnerable to the effects of global changes. To address this challenge, the FRUITDIV project will monitor, characterise, use, and conserve the diversity of emblematic fruit tree CWR, with a particular emphasis on Malus, Pyrus and Prunus.

To better characterise the genetic and phenotypic diversity of CWR fruit trees and identify favourable traits for future introgression into cultivars, FRUITDIV will use a combination of floristic, ethnogeography and population genomics on genebanks and historical European hotspots of diversity. It will then develop new multiomics-based breeding strategies that combine marker-assisted introgression for traits of interest (e.g. resilience, resistance to pests and diseases, fruit quality) with pangenomic prediction and a reduction of CWR-associated genetic load.

In addition to breeding programs, FRUITDIV will also work with networks of farmers and associations to help characterise CWR progeny in various pedo-climatic conditions in Europe. An European-wide online platform that provides genotyping and phenotyping data for free will be implemented to promote the use of CWR genitors by breeders and farmers and help disseminate plant material of interest for various usages and cultivation systems.

Overall, the FRUITDIV multi-actor approach involving geneticists, forestry officers, germplasm curators, farmers and citizens, will foster the in- and ex-situ conservation of CWR and promote sustainable agricultural practices across Europe.

 

Main deliverables:

More effective measures for the conservation of Crop Wild Relatives (CWR)

• Better conservation of CWR in ex situ repositories ((gene banks)
• Better ex situ conservation by the implementation of genetic reserves in the European hotspots of diversity (former refugia during the last glaciation)
• Better characterisation of CWR diversity

Better knowledge and dissemination on the value and interest of CWR

• Genome- and population-wide characterisation of fruit tree CWR
• Identification of CWR traits of interest for Agriculture, Forestry and Society
• Survey and sharing on the traditional knowledge linked to Fruit tree CWR

Greater use of CWR in breeding and acceleration of CWR-based breeding programs

• Development of genomic tools adapted to CWR features
• Better access by farmers to CWR-based, environmentally-friendly, improved varieties