Since October 2019, the Julius Kühn-Institute (JKI) in Quedlinburg coordinates the Subnetwork (TNW) Pelargonium of the Gene Bank for Vegetatively Propagated Plants belonging to the German Gene Bank for Ornamental Plants (DGZ). The German Federal Plant Variety Office (BSA) is responsible for the overall coordination of the particular subnetworks of the DGZ.

Within the TNW Pelargonium collecting and supporting partners are united in their engagement for this genus in Germany. The common goal is to document genetic resources of local collections and their long-term maintenance. Species and cultivars are documented in a publicly accessible internet-based database of the Federal Plant Variety Office (https://www.bundessortenamt.de/apps55/genbank_zierpfl/public/de).

From May to September in 2019, a first cultivation and description of 70 Pelargonium accessions from the Hochschule für Technik und Wissenschaft (University of applied Sciences), Dresden, and the JKI at Quedlinburg has been possible in the test station Dachwig of the BSA. The experts recorded twenty-six traits for each accession and documented it with photos of flower, leaf and growth. In the middle of September, the participants of the annual meeting of the TNW Pelargonium visited the cultivation in Dachwig and discussed the results.

Background information

The Pelargonium working collection of the JKI-Institute for Breeding Research on Horticultural Crops in Quedlinburg comprises about 100 accessions of 60 species and 13 sections. Per each Pelargonium species one to six accessions, cultivated as clone, exist in the collection. Moreover, cultivars and unique primary hybrids, arose from research, were collected. The collection at the JKI is focussed on the horticultural important sections Ciconium (15 species in 32 accessions) and Pelargonium (14 species in 23 accessions). So far, primary data of 106 accessions have gathered in the Pelargonium database of the gene bank.
At the JKI, the research and development of methods involve utilisation of genetic resources to create new variability in breeding material by hybridisation and induced mutation as well as molecular phylogenetic analysis, in vitro methods, estimations of ploidy level, and fertility.

Contact
Sylvia Plaschil, sylvia.plaschil@julius-kuehn.de
Katja Näthke, Katja.Naethke@bundessortenamt.de