In Romania, work on identification, conservation and evaluation of fruit genetic resources activities was initiated in 1970 in order to limit the loss of biodiversity. There are rich sources of germplasm located in two research centres: RIFG Pitesti with 642 accessions and UCv-SCDP Vâlcea with 361 accessions, representing wild species, local populations, named cultivars, breeder’s selections and rootstocks. Observations were made according to the IBPGR Prunus descriptors updated by the ECP/GR Prunus Working Group. The following genetic resources from the Piteşti and Vâlcea collections were used in a breeding programme in the development of several plum cultivars: ‘Grase de Becs’, ‘Carpatin’, ‘Ialomiža’, ‘Kirke’, ‘Wilhelmina Späth’ (for resistance / tolerance to Plum pox virus); ‘Vinete romāneşti’, ‘Tuleu timpuriu’, ‘Anna Späth’ (for late blooming), ‘Tuleu gras’, ‘Vâlcean’ (for fruit quality), ‘Stanley’, ‘Pescăruş’, ‘Centenar’ (for productivity), and ‘Diana’ (for self-fertility). The plum rootstock breeding programme used the following genotypes as sources of genes: ‘Rosior văratec’, ‘Brompton’, ‘Renclod Verde’, ‘Pixy’, ‘Saint Julien A’, ‘Albe mici’, ‘Scolduş’, ‘Porumbar’, etc. Breeding using the germplasm in these collections resulted in the release of 40 cultivars and 11 generative and vegetative rootstocks.

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For the first time, we used multilocus sequence typing (MLST) to understand how Romanian group B streptococcus (GBS) strains fit into the global GBS population structure. Colonising isolates recovered from adult human females were tested for antibiotic resistance, were molecularly serotyped based on the capsular polysaccharide synthesis (cps) gene cluster and further characterised using a set of molecular markers (surface protein genes, pilus-encoded islands and mobile genetic elements inserted in the scpB-lmb intergenic region). Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis was used to complement the MLST clonal distribution pattern of selected strains. Among the 55 strains assigned to six cps types (Ia, Ib, II-V), 18 sequence types (STs) were identified by MLST. Five STs represented new entries to the MLST database. The prevalent STs were ST-1, ST-17, ST-19 and ST-28. Twenty molecular marker profiles were identified. The most common profiles (rib+GBSi1+PI-1, rib+GBSi1+PI-1, PI-2b and alp2/3+PI-1, PI-2a) were associated with the cps III/ST-17 and cps V/ST-1 strains. A cluster of fluoroquinolone-resistant strains was detected among the cps V/ST-19 members; these strains shared alp1 and IS1548 and carried PI-1, PI-2a or both. Our results support the usefulness of implementing an integrated genotyping system at the reference laboratory level to obtain the reliable data required to make comparisons between countries.

The objective of this study was to analyse fruit quality through consumers’ perceptions and their preferences revealed by two panel questionnaires. Among the most common apple cultivars on the Romanian markets, were chosen the ones existing simultaneously and continuously (over two-years, during January-March): ‘Golden Delicious’, ‘Braeburn’, ‘Granny Smith’, ‘Red Delicious’, ‘Jonagold’, ‘Jonathan’, ‘Florina’, ‘Idared’. The consumers’ panel for sensory evaluation was represented by students, who completed two types of questionnaires. Both questionnaires refer to foremost traits for dessert apple, such as fruit appearance (size, shape, color) and intrinsic peculiarities (pulp consistency, juiciness, taste, flavor). First questionnaire comprised different scales for the traits (1-3, 1-5 or 1-15), while the second one consisted of the hedonic scale (1-9) for all traits. For commercial appearance of the fruits were highlighted ‘Idared’, ‘Granny Smith’, ‘Braeburn’ and especially ‘Jonagold’. ‘Braeburn’ was distinct by the highest quality taste (average grade 13.9 on the scoring taste scale 1-15) and also for fruit flavor. ‘Granny Smith’, a commercially attractive-looking fruit, received only an average of 6.2 for taste and 2.6 for flavor. ‘Granny Smith’ presented the largest value for the coefficients of variation for taste, this variety being preferred less by female than male tasters. Inconsistency of the market, prices and foreign assortment on Romanian market was illustrated by the lack of statistical correlations between commercial fruit quality and price. The study could provide useful background information for apples breeders, farmers and marketing fruits strategy. The use of different scales for panel evaluation, dependent on the relevance of traits, might be a proper solution for reducing bias. In this case, the 1-15 large scale for apple taste compared with lower ones for other traits assured a more appropriate image of the tasters’ preferences.

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The species of pear sucker, also called pear psylla or pear psyllid, which are destructive insects belonging to the genus Cacopsylla (Hemiptera: Psyllidae) cause substantial damage to pear tree plantations. Two consecutive years of research were conducted on the population structure and biological cycle of psylla in a small, elderly, and unmaintained pear orchard in northern Romania. Of the two identified species (C. pyri L. and C. pyricola Forster), C. pyri dominated the psylla population with a percentage of 77.8-80.1%. Adults of both species emerge from hibernation in the first part of March and produce three generations per year. First-generation adults emerge in the first decade of June, the second generation in the last decade of July, and the third generation in the first decade of September as they enter the hibernation phase. Larvae of the first generation appear in the second half of April, the second generation at the end of June - the beginning of July, and the third generation in the second decade of August. There have been reports of up to 11 adults and 27 larvae per leaf, 9 larvae per petiole, and 14 larvae per fruit. The number of adults captured on yellow sticky traps exposed on the southern side of the tree crown was significantly higher compared to the northern side. Following the intense attack, the well-known cv. ‘Williams’ was heavily affected, pear trees were badly defoliated, blackened, and aged prematurely. The climatic conditions of the two years did not influence the phenology of the pests, but the importance of monitoring psyllids is widely argued, considering that it remains the key to integrated protection programs in pear orchards.