PGR collecting mission to the southern Kuril Islands (Kunashir, Shikotan, and Iturup)

VIR annually performs explorations of Crop Wild Relatives (CWR) in various regions of Russia, including the Russian Far East. Knowledge of the taxonomic diversity of plant genetic resources (PGR) in the territory of their natural distribution allows for their targeted collecting in the VIR collection for direct use in breeding programs, selecting the most valuable traits for breeding, and developing in situ and ex situ conservation measures for the priority PGR species.

The object of the exploration were CWR species from the three southern Kuril Islands: Kunashir, Shikotan, and Iturup. Methodological guidelines of VIR for conducting expedition surveys and cultivated plants herbarization were used.

The purpose of the work was to inventory CWR of Kunashir, Shikotan and Iturup and select representatives of the flora of these islands of special value for breeding. The species of fruit and berry, fodder, medicinal and other crops of the explored islands were found to be of undoubted interest for introduction into culture and the breeding process. The survey resulted in collecting 27 seed samples, 5 samples in the form of cuttings, 30 transplants, and 234 herbarium sheets of CWR representatives. A total of 296 samples were collected. Most areas of the Kuril Islands are hard to reach, therefore it is necessary to conduct a more detailed survey of the species in demand from the breeding point of view in order to clarify the ranges of the species, as well as to collect the most valuable genotypes for cultivation and breeding. The work on studying the diversity of CWR in this region is worth continuing.

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