Abstract

Genus Prunus comprises around 98 species which are of importance. All the stone fruits are included in this group. Three subgenera namely: Amygdalus (peaches and almonds), Prunophora (plums and apricots) and Cerasus (cherries) under Prunus are universally accepted. Major species of importance are Prunus persica, Prunus armeniaca, Prunus salicina, Prunus domestica, Prunus americana,Prunus avium, Prunus cerasus, Prunus dulcis, Prunus ceracifera, Prunus behimi, Prunus cornuta,Prunus cerasoides, Prunus mahaleb etc. Interspecific hybrids namely: plumcots, pluots and apriums also produce very delicious edible fruits. Rootstocks namely: Colt, F/12, Mahaleb, Mazzard etc are for cherry, whereas, Marrianna, Myrobalan, St. Julian, Higgith, Pixy etc are for other stone fruits. Cultivars namely: Flordasun, Elberta, Crawford’s Early, Nectared, Sun Haven etc are peaches, Perfection, St. Ambroise, Royal, New Castle etc are apricots, Santa Rosa, Kelsey, Methley, Frontier, Burbank etc are plums, Lapins, Stella, Van, Black Heart, Compact Stella etc are cherries, and Nonpareil, Drake, Ne Plus Ultra, Jordanolo, Merced etc are almonds. Isozymic studies conducted to understand the phylogeny of Prunus sections Prunocerasus reveal that Pronocerasus is polyphyletic with P. americana, P. munsoniana, P. hortulana, P. subcordata and P. angustifolia in one group, and P. maritima and P. umbellata in another group that is closely related to Cerasus. The ECPGR Prunusworking group, Biodiversity International, INRA (Bordeaux), NPGS (USA), GRIN (USA) and NBPGR (India) are some organizations actively involved in management and conservation of Prunus genetic resources.

Key words: Prunus diversity, Prunus origin, species conservation, varieties, stone fruits, data base.