Possibilities of biotechnological methods in breeding of vegetable crops at the VIR Laboratory of Breeding and Cell Technologies

Basic and applied scientific research in plant cell technologies contribute to the successful development of agricultural plant breeding, which allows the creation of new forms of plants 2-4 times faster than by traditional breeding methods. To obtain inbred lines of most vegetable crops, about 5-7 cycles of self-pollination are required. As a result, the creation of a new cultivar/hybrid takes more than 10-12 years on an average. To successfully create a variety or hybrid, it is necessary to select parental pairs in the form of inbred lines. The VIR collection of vegetables and cucurbit crops includes 52,889 accessions, representatives of 29 families, 145 genera, and 610 species. The use of biotechnological methods is an important direction for accelerating the breeding of vegetable crops. Due to the relevance of introducing cell technologies into the breeding programs of the VIR Department of Genetic Resources of Vegetable and Cucurbit Crops, a Laboratory of Breeding and Cell Technologies was set up in 2022. The goal of the research to be performed at the new laboratory is to accelerate the creation of source material, cultivars and hybrids by combining traditional breeding methods and cell technologies. The objects of the study include cultivated forms and wild relatives of cabbage Brassica oleracea L., turnip Brassica rapa L., lettuce Lactuca L., tomato Lycopersicon Mill and vegetable sweet corn Zea mays var. saccharata Sturt. In the present review, we consider the main results of breeding cabbage, tomato, and lettuce which have been obtained through applying cell technologies. Despite the progress obtained, there are still several problems in this area. The lack of standardized, efficient and reproducible protocols for in vitro methods often hinders their practical use. The tasks facing the laboratory in creating the initial breeding material and new cultivars and hybrids with the use of both conventional methods and cell technologies are relevant and correspond to the world level.