Abstract

The breeding of new black currant (Ribes nigrum) cultivars at SCRI has produced genotypes well adapted to the changes in growing practices and priorities in the UK industry and beyond. Future directions, especially in terms of pest and disease resistances, and low temperature tolerance, are described. The breeding of perennial fruits is increasingly moving towards the use of marker-based selection protocols. In the SCRI Ribes programme, this encompasses molecular, biochemical and physiological markers, in order to increase breeding efficiency and fully exploit the available genetic resources.