According to the recently proposed comprehensive strategy for the registration and conserving of Russian varieties of vegetatively propagated crops in the VIR genebank, plant material is transferred by cultivar authors to VIR to create nomenclatural standards and preserve them in the VIR Herbarium of Cultivated Plants, their Wild Relatives and Weeds (WIR), as well as for viable preservation in the VIR in vitro, cryo- and field collections and for genotyping the cultivars. Plant material of 14 of black currant cultivars was collected by colleagues from the I.V. Michurin Federal Scientific Center (I.V. Michurin FSC), including the cultivar authors, and transferred to the VIR Herbarium for preparing of nomenclatural standards. In accordance with the rules of the International Code of Nomenclature of Cultivated Plants, nomenclatural standards have been prepared for the following black currant cultivars: ‘Amirani’, ‘Bagira’, ‘Vospominanie’, ‘Zelënai͡a Dymka’, ‘Malenʹkiĭ Print͡s’, ‘Pami󠆎͡atʹ Michurina’, ‘Sozvezdie’, ‘Tamerlan’, ‘Tatʹi͡anin Denʹ’, ‘Charovnit͡sa’, ‘Chernavka’, ‘Chërnyĭ Zhemchug’, ‘Shalunʹi͡a’, ‘Ėlevesta’. Nomenclature standards registered in the VIR Herbarium database were transferred for storage to the VIR Herbarium of cultivated plants of the world, their wild relatives and weeds (WIR). Plant material transferred from the I.V. Michurin FSC was used not only for herbarization and creation of nomenclatural standards, but also for live preservation of cultivars in the VIR in vitro and field collections.

A gene pool of cherry plum (Prunus cerasifera Ehrh.) numbering over 1000 accessions including wild forms and released cultivars of various origins has been gathered at the Krymsk Experiment Breeding Station, a branch of VIR. The study of the morphological diversity of cherry plum, or myrobalan plum, made it possible to clarify its position within the system of the genus Prunus L., and to propose an intraspecific system composed of three subspecies: Prunus cerasifera subsp. cerasifera – the typical cherry plum, P. cerasifera subsp. orientalis (M. Pop.) Erem. et Garcov. – the oriental cherry plum, and P. cerasifera subsp. macrocarpa Erem. et Garcov. – the large-fruited cherry plum with the following several varieties: Armenian (P. cerasifera subsp. macrocarpa var. nairica (Koval.) Erem. et Garkov.), Georgian (var. georgica (Erem.) Erem. et Garcov.), Iranian (subsp. macrocarpa var. iranica (Koval.) Erem. et Garcov), Pontic (subsp. macrocarpa var. pontica (Koval.) Erem. et Garcov.), Tauric (subsp. macrocarpa var. taurica (Kost.) Erem. et Garcov.), and the red-leaved cherry plum (Pissard plum) (subsp. macrocarpa var. pissardii (Carriere) Koehne).

The most important role of interspecific hybridization involving the species P. cerasifera is in the origin of a number of Prunus L. species, including domestic plum P. domestica L., Fenzl’s almond P. fenzliana Fritsch, and black apricot P. dasycarpa Ehrh., has been established.

The cherry plum gene pool had been found to contain donors of a number of traits of importance for breeding, which were used to create an assortment of Russian plum (Prunus × rossica Erem., hybrid myrobalan plum) cultivars and clonal rootstocks of stone fruit crops. Among them, the Russian plum ‘Globus’, ‘Kubanskaya Kometa’, ‘Gek’, ‘Kolonnovidnaya’, ‘Iyulskaya Roza’, and clonal rootstocks ‘Kuban 86’, ‘VVA 1’, ‘Evrika 99’, ‘Best’, ‘Zarevo’ have been regionally adapted and got a wide distribution.

An outstanding general combining ability was demonstrated by cherry plum cvs. ‘Pionerka’, ‘Purpurovaya’, ‘Otlichtnitsa’, ‘Ashtarakskaya 2’ and ‘Tsiteli Drosha’, which were used in breeding a number of cherry plum cultivars at the Krymsk EBS, e.g. cherry plums ‘Neberdzhaevskaya Rannyaya’, ‘Kremen’, Russian plum ‘Kubanskaya Kometa’, ‘Iyulskaya Roza’, ‘Naydena’, ‘Gek’, ‘Podarok Sad-Gigantu’, etc.

Most effective was the hybridization of Crimean, Armenian and Georgian cherry plum cultivars with the Chinese plum (Prunus salicina Lindl.) ‘Burbank’, ‘Gigant’, and ‘Skoroplodnaya’. As clonal rootstocks, the hybrids of myrobalan plum with peach (‘Kuban 86’ and ‘Fortuna’ rootstocks), with cherry plum ‘Sapa’ (‘Evrika 99’ and ‘Spiker’ rootstocks), as well as with low micro-cherry (rootstock ‘Best’) and Louiseania ulmifolia (Franch.) Pachom. (rootstock ‘Upriamets’) turned out to be very valuable.

Central Asia is one of the largest and most important genetic centers of origin of many cultivated plants, especially fruit plants, including grapes (Vitis vinifera L.). Some local forms have survived to this day in their pristine condition thanks to the attachment of peoples to ‘their’ varieties. This original assortment, which naturally attracts interest of researchers, helped to determine the areas of folk bred varieties concentration in Central Asia and Kazakhstan. Studies of landraces started as early as the beginning of the 20th century. Very prominent botanists, namely Mikhail Grigorievich Popov, Pavel Aleksandrovich Baranov, Ivan Tikhonovich Vassilczenko and others, studied the diversity and regional adaptation of V. vinifera. Ancient grape landraces of Central Asia contain forms with large clusters and berries. Extremely valuable seedless and ultra-early varieties are often found here.

As a result of our surveys, we collected more than 700 local cultivars and wild forms of grapes. All the gathered samples are subjected to a comprehensive study in order to identify their economically valuable traits and properties. This made it possible to identify individual cultivars that can be used on the industrial scale.

A brief biography of Vladislav A. Arzumanov, an Uzbek scientist, a candidate of biological sciences, a researcher at the Uzbek Scientific Research Institute of Horticulture and Viticulture after R. Schroeder, is presented. V. A. Arzumanov dedicated his scientific career to studying the unique local diversity of grapes and developing grape breeding in Uzbekistan.

The materials are provided by his daughter Osanna V. Arzumanova.