Introgression breeding in asparagus – from genetic resources to breeding approach

Asparagus belongs to the most important vegetable worldwide. However, in all production areas, it suffers from many pathogens and pests, as well as environmental stress caused by climate change. Breeding resilient cultivars proves difficult since a breeding bottleneck restricts the genetic diversity of the garden asparagus. On the other hand, a large pool of asparagus wild relatives is potentially helpful for breeding. The complex introgression breeding program, currently running at the JKI, can be exemplified by the successful transfer of resistance against asparagus virus 1 (AV1) from the wild species Asparagus prostratus to the garden asparagus. Further approaches toward biotic and abiotic stress resilience are discussed.