Morphological characteristics of garlic (Allium sativum L.) genetic resources collection - Information

Abstract

Maintenance of garlic (Allium sativum L.) genetic resources has had a long tradition in the Czech Republic. The collection was founded in 1951 and its current holder is the Crop Research Institute, Department of Vegetables and Special Crops in Olomouc. The collection consists of 613 genotypes. The oldest genotype was acquired in 1954. The collection has been evaluated according to the Descriptor list for Allium spp. (IPGRI 2001). 17 characters of the Descriptor list were supplemented with 5 additional characters. The photos of all garlic genotypes were taken. The genotypes were divided into the three main morphological groups according to the ability to produce the scape: the first group with the scape (bolting) -300 genotypes, the second part without the scape (non-bolting garlic) 205 genotypes and the third part presents semi-bolting garlic -108 genotypes. The last morphological type has bulbils in the different parts of the pseudostem. 131plasm storage. The plant material is stored straight in liquid nitrogen in the temperature of -196°C or in the vapour of liquid nitrogen in the temperature of -150°C. During storage in ultra low temperature the cell life activity is reduced to stop all physiological processes in stored material. Successful material transfer from the cultivation to liquid nitrogen and back without strong damage of the material is important precondition for using this method (Faltus et al. 2005). The important crops (garlic, potato, apple, pear, cherry, strawberry and hop) are cryopreserved in the Czech Cryobank by modified vitrification methods (Zámečník et al. 2007).The genus Allium is economically important because it includes several important vegetable crops -onion, garlic etc., as well as many ornamental species. The garlic is the second most important Allium species. It is grown worldwide as an important spice and medicinal plant. The bulb, composed of few to many cloves, is the main economic organ. The fresh leaves, pseudostems and bulbils (topsets) are also consumed (Fritsch, Friesen 2002). Like onion, garlic has been used by humans for a very long time.The first mentions about the garlic are 6,000 years old; Sumerians, Egyptians or Jews used it. The parts of garlic plants were found also in Southern Moravia. They come from 2000 B.C. (Lužný, Vaško 1982).Since ancient times, garlic, onion and related species have been widely used in many parts of the word as vegetables, as well as in traditional folk medicine. Garlic and onion have been the most intensively investigated. Garlic showed lipid-lowering effects, antiplatelet activity and antiatherosclerotic activities. The cardiovascular effects of garlic are among the best investigated of all medicinal plants species (Keusgen 2002). Louis Pasteur was the first to describe the antibacterial effect of onion and garlic juices. Garlic exhibits a broad antibiotic spectrum against both gram-positive and gramnegative bacteria. Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) is a bacterium implicated in the etiology of stomach cancer and ulcers. The i...

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