NEW APPROACHES TO PROTECT WILD ALMOND GENETIC SOURCES: A REVIEW

Abstract

Turkey has rich local and wild fruit varieties which grown at poor soils and hard climatic conditions. One of them is wild almonds which spreads almost everywhere at Anatolia. Cultivated almonds became differentiated into two ecotypes during evolution and later domestication processes: Mediterranean and Central Asia. Numerous related wild species are also found growing in the mountains and deserts of Central Asia from western China through Iran and Turkey. These native almond species are utilized for oil extraction, soil erosion control, reforestation, rootstocks, and as a source of novel genes in breeding programs. But important wild almonds have lost because of road construction and new residential regions in recent years. To prevent this, it needs new strategies such as genetic material collection, genetic characterization and the use of biotechnology to breed new cultivars. In this study, we discussed new approaches to protect wild almond genetic sources.