ABSTRACT
Small fruits are fairly recently domesticated, in comparison to the large-scale arable crops (Simmonds, 1976), and are mainly highly heterozygous woody perennial species. They are clonally propagated, and, as such, often require appropriate means of conservation rather than the use of seedbanks, although the latter have a definite role in the storage of wild accessions. The breeding of most small fruit species is increasingly dependent on the broadening of the genetic base as many of the important small fruit crops have arisen from a narrow genetic foundation. Recent molecular studies by Lanham et al. (1995) in Ribes, and Graham et al. (1996) in Fragaria, have substantiated the evidence for the narrow origins, and indicated that enhanced genetic diversity in the relevant breeding programmes may be considered essential for the introduction of certain traits of agronomic interest.
