Variability of lettuce genetic resources in the Slovene Plant Gene Bank

Abstract

Numerous autochthonous varieties have been developed during centuries of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) cultivation in Slovenia. In the Slovene Plant Gene bank (SPGB), maintained at the Agricultural Institute of Slovenia, 177 accessions are included that were obtained from various parts of Slovenia in the nineties of the last century. In addition, wild relatives and accessions obtained for the research purposes from other gene banks worldwide are included. Altogether, 227 lettuce accessions are included in the collection. In the frame of different research projects a substantial part of the collection was evaluated by morphological and molecular markers. The majority of the accessions are of crisp type, the most well-known variety is ‘Ljubljanska ledenka’, which was threatened to disappear from the production fields. Based on extensive studies of selected genotypes of ‘Ljubljanska ledenka’ from SPGB and other gene banks throughout the world conducted in last years we were able to identify genotypes that correspond to the original variety ‘Ljubljanska ledenka’ and differ from all other varieties. These genotypes were selected for the reintroduction of original ‘Ljubljanska ledenka’ and its inscription on the variety list.