Research objectives

• Breeding of new apple cultivars combining resistance with excellent fruit quality and high and regular cropping that are suited for sustainable integrated and organic fruit production
• Breeding of new pear cultivars with resistance to fire blight
• Selection of red-flesh apple genotypes with good fruit quality
• Investigation of the adaptation of flowering time in relation to climate change – late frost
• Development of pre-breeding material – introgression of resistances from wild species
• Pyramiding and combination of resistances for more durable resistance (fire blight, powdery mildew, scab)
• Marker assisted selection (Smart breeding)
• Investigating the inheritance of resistance to fire blight, mildew and scab of genetic resources of apple
• Identification and functional characterization of genes associated with resistance to fire blight, mildew and scab

Memberships/Activities

• Saxon commission for apple fruit varieties
• Expert commission for pome fruits – working group breeding
• Working group performance test of fruit-growing
• International Society for Horticultural Science (ISHS)
  https://www.ishs.org/

Publications in the Julius Kühn-Institut