The germplasm collection: a library of apples A collection of
apple genetic resources, known as a germplasm collection, is
maintained by Plant & Food Research at their Hawke’s Bay orchard
to provide a source of new apple traits for the future. Storing
genetic information from apples A germplasm is a library of
genetic resources for an organism. Germplasm collections can be
stored in several ways – as seeds in cool storage, as whole
plants in a nursery or orchard or as cryopreserved dormant buds.
At Plant & Food Research (PFR), the apple germplasm collection
is maintained in the form of trees in the orchard. 2 trees of
each genotype are planted. It’s important to maintain an apple
germplasm collection as trees because apples don’t breed true.
This means that the genetic make-up of the seeds will be
different to that of the tree that bears them. Growing the trees
is the only way to know how the apples they produce will look
and taste. History of the apple germplasm collection The
germplasm collection in New Zea