The article for the first time presents documents from several archival CPSU collections kept in St. Petersburg and from the collections of the Communist Academy held at the Archive of the Russian Academy of Sciences. These documents testify against the image, wide-spread in current literature, that the conflict between N.I. Vavilov and the supporters of T.D. Lysenko was a competition between two rival academic schools for financial, material, and human resources. Already in the early attacks against Vavilov, which began in the years of the «cultural revolution», before T.D. Lysenko would emerge as a person of some importance among agronomists and plant breeders, the scientific content of the debates was rather negligible. In an ordinary situation, the debates would have never had the same tragic consequences as they had for many of their participants. From the very beginning, the criticism against Vavilov was initiated and controlled by Party bodies, and his opponents were mainly inspired by political, ideological considerations and the wish to advance their own careers. In 1932, N.I. Vavilov lost his former independence in personnel management and the control over institutions that he administered. The principal characteristics of «Lysenkoism» as a social-political practice in Soviet science formed before the struggle between geneticists and Lysenkoists. It was in the same years that the main accusations against N.I. Vavilov were first articulated: wrong research strategy, the lack of links with agricultural practice, the promotion of theories hostile to Marxism, and sympathies to bourgeois science.

The first visit of NI Vavilov to the United States in 1921 is the least studied period of the scientist’s life. The documents and photographs first published in this paper provide a more detailed view of this trip, its objectives and results.

N.I. Vavilov occupies a special position among scientists and most successful «hunters» for cultivated plants and their relatives. He first predicted and then discovered and collected an unexpectedly broad diversity of species, accessions, and varieties. Under his leadership, the most significant bank of plant resources (biodiversity) of crops was established, and later, the collected resources were successfully summoned up for the Soviet economy. The article considers the many-sided Vavilov’s activity to organize and conduct expeditions, in which he took personal part; their goals; efficiency; and basic methods of examination and use of the plants material collected.

N.I. Vavilov considered the territory of Afghanistan where one of the initial farming centers was generated to be part of the Middle Asian center of crop origin and diversity. Hexaploid 42-chromosomal wheat with the genome constitution AABBDD was also attributed to that center. Scientific expeditions from different countries surveyed repeatedly the agricultural regions of Afghanistan to collect wild and cultivated plants. The collected material from those regions is preserved at various seed banks. The distribution of Afghani landraces of bread wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) from the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry and Australian collections depending on elevation above sea level and climatic conditions (humidity/aridity) is discussed. Data about sources of valuable traits for breeding identified among the accessions of Afghani bread wheat are presented. A set of 116 genotypes was analyzed for 13 microsatellite loci to investigate the structure of wheat genetic diversity.

This paper discusses the formation of the scientific appraisal system in high agricultural schools in the Russian Empire. Attention is focused on the activities of renowned professors I.A. Stebut, A.V. Sovetov, and D.N. Pryanishnikov, who were particularly active in propagation of high education and struggle for the right of the high agricultural school to confer master and doctor degrees in agricultural sciences.

The paper is dedicated to Ekaterina Sakharova, N.I. Vavilov’s fellow student at the Moscow Agricultural Institute, who later became his wife. She was reputed to be «the star» of the Institute. Previously unknown information about her life and work is presented. Sakharova signified her professional career as «an agronomist-teacher-adviser». In addition, she was a translator, journalist, sociologist, and social worker. She also took part in political activities. She communicated with conspicuous people of the first half of the 20th century. Her role in Vavilov’s life is discussed. A list of her publications has been compiled for the first time.

Ukraine played an important role in N.I. Vavilov’s personality formation and implementation of his ideas. The National Plant Gene Bank of Ukraine is the most significant embodiment of his heritage. The paper considers the history, directions and results of Ukrainian scientists’ activity in the formation, introduction, and registration of gene bank collections; their accessioning; preservation in life and genetic invariance; study and use in plant breeding, research, and education.

The article overviews the main milestones of the researches on plant genetic resources in Belarus and presents the genetic bank, collected in the research institutions participating in the study and conservation of plant genetic resources in the Republic of Belarus. The results of the practical use of the global gene pool in crop breeding are shown.

The Estonian government has responded to the global efforts for conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity ratifying international agreements and initiating the National Programme on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture. Collection, identification and conservation of plant genetic material of Estonian origin as well establishing the network were the essential activities of the National Programme. Since plant genetic resources form the core of initial material for plant breeders and scientists systematic investigations to improve utilisation of plant genetic resources are conducted. An overview of activities on preservation of plant genetic resources for food and agriculture in Estonia is presented.

Conservation of the biodiversity of crops and their relatives is considered with regard to agriculture. Attention is focused on the collection, study, storage, and documentation for better use, diversification, and meeting new requirements of agriculture, food industry, and climate. Conservation of biodiversity is viewed as a multifaceted field of research.

The article is dedicated to fund-raising activities and the conservation of plant genetic resources in Azerbaijan. Brief information is provided on the activities of the National Gene Bank, functioning at the Institute of Genetics Resources of the Azerbaijan National Academy of Sciences, the foundation of the Information Centre and the development of a unified information system with a centralized database on Plant Genetic Resources in Azerbaijan.

Botanical and ecological study of material collected in different areas of Kyrgyzstan showed a broad variability of ecological and morphological forms in wheat landraces. A total of 60 subspecies of spring wheat belonging to 6 species were found. Several ecological groups are recognized in Kyrgyzstan. The most common ecotypes, subrigidum and rigidum, are related to the Iran-Asian subspecies. At the present time, about 80 wheat varieties bred in FSU countries are successfully passing the state variety trial. The following winter and spring wheat varieties were identified on the base of analysis of productivity and quality: Dordoi 16 Mereke 70, Kiyal (st), Suleiman, Kasiet, and Araket. Up to 35 varieties of winter wheat and 12 varieties of spring wheat bred in Kyrgyzstan and abroad are tested annually and recommended for growing in various ecological zones of Kyrgyzstan.

The work overviews the state, achievements, and prospects of the collection of perennial and ratooning intermediate wheat × couch-grass hybrids (2n = 56) kept in the N.V. Tsitsin Main Botanical Garden. It demonstrates the superiority of new forms in biological and economically significant parameters over hybrids obtained during the research activity of Аcademician N.V. Tsitsin. Stable genotypes with good performance in the degree of overwintering for 2–3 years of life were selected. Accessions promising in terms of yield, high protein content in grains, good baking qualities, fresh yield for three mowings, and pest resistance were chosen. Data on the biodiversity of botanical varieties of the Triticum agropyrotriticum Cicin species, gliadin polymorphism, and genome in situ hybridization are provided.

The effect of long-term storage of seeds of three leguminous species (Pisum sativum, Lens culinaris, and Cicer arietinum) on physiological (germination) and cytological (mitotic index) parameters of seeds and seedlings derived from them was studied. It was found that after nearly 35 years of storage in permafrost (temperature from –5,5 to –6,0 °C), without seeding, the germination of seeds of varieties of the species studied maintained at the same or slightly lower level than in reference samples (seeds of the same cultivars harvested in 2007–2009), and no significant difference in the growth rate of roots was recorded. The observed number of chromosomal aberrations in root meristem cells did not increase, except P. sativum cv. Latores and L. Culinaris cv. k-2330, and in these cases neither the laboratory germination nor the rates of growth processes decreased. Thus, long-term storage of seeds under permafrost conditions favored the preservation of their viability (germination) and can be offered as a promising method of seed storage.

The main ideals of N.I. Vavilov’s studies and their use in vegetable crop breeding and genetic research conducted at the All-Russia Research Institute of Vegetable Breeding and Seed Production are reviewed.

The year 2012 marks several important anniversaries in the history of applied botany in Russia. The activity of the individuals celebrated in this year has resulted in the establishment of a research institute and gene bank: the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry (VIR, St. Petersburg), which keeps one of the most significant collections of cultivated plant seeds in the world. We also celebrate the 125th anniversary of N.I. Vavilov, VIR’s most well-known director. In addition, this year celebrates Alexandr F. Batalin, Ivan P. Borodin, and Robert E. Regel, who were the first, third, and fourth managers of VIR’s predecessor organization, the Bureau for Applied Botany.

To honor these anniversaries we publish here Regel’s memorandum on the teaching of botany and applied ecology for irrigation engineers, a document recently discovered in the Russian State Historical Archive (St. Petersburg). As an introductory article, we offer a brief essay on Regel’s scientific and organizational activities, which describes his role in the establishment of applied botany as a scientific discipline in Russia.

It is supplemented by new archival documents.

Research of apple tree development features in connection with breeding acceleration has been conducted at the Institute of Horticultural Breeding for over 50 years. Age-related variation in trunk length is recorded even in 24 to 34-year apple seedlings. Plants grown from cuttings of seedling root shoots, as well as plants obtained from roots, usually start fruit bearing 1–3 years later than those grown from cuttings from the upper part of the crown of the same seedlings. Late fruit bearing of apple seedlings is associated with their long juvenile period. In connection with the discovered features of apple tree development, we consider opportunities of breeding acceleration and intensification by means of combination of breeding stages, agricultural methods, multiple screenings against infectious and provocative backgrounds, grafting of 2-year seedlings on 3–6-year skeletogenous trees, study of hybrid seedlings in different geographical areas, utilization of correlations of anatomical, physiological and morphological characters of young seedlings with their commercially valuable properties in adulthood, and application of molecular methods.

The outstanding activity of N.I. Vavilov shows that he was not only a great scientist but also a remarkable science manager. He founded the All-Russia Institute of Plant Industry (VIR) and a network of experimental stations. The first of them, the most beloved and patronized, was the Central Plant Breeding and Genetical Station in Detskoe Selo (presently Pushkin, a municipal town in Pushkinsky raion, St. Petersburg). It was founded 90 years ago, on May 20, 1921. On January 1, 1939, it was renamed to VIR Pushkin Laboratories. The article describes its foundation and history before Vavilov’s arrest in 1940.