Established in 2001, the Institute of Vegetables at Zhejiang Academy of Agricultural Sciences (ZAAS) is the largest not-for-profit institution in Zhejiang Province specializing in vegetable research. With 60 staff members and 9 research groups, the institute focuses on the development of Bean Vegetable Germplasm Innovation and Molecular Breeding in South China. It is also home to the Zhejiang Engineering Center of Protected Horticulture and the International Cooperation Base for Vegetable Germplasm Development and Utilization. The institute leads the State Task Force for Broccoli Breeding, coordinates the Provincial Vegetable Breeding Program, and initiated the Legume Branch of the Chinese Society for Horticulture.
The institute has achieved significant progress in various areas, including the precise identification of germplasm phenotypes, key gene mining, function identification, and molecular breeding. Molecular markers associated with key traits have been developed and applied to gene identification and pyramiding. Notable accomplishments include the assembly of high-quality reference genomes for crops like bottle gourd, long bean, and eggplant, along with a large amount of germplasm genome re-sequencing data. The institute also established techniques for germplasm development based on isolated microspore culture, especially for Cruciferae.
Furthermore, the institute has made breakthroughs in the digitization of crop phenotypic information, precise picking, and scientific evaluation of quality traits. Several cultivars, such as the Zheza tomato lines, Zheqie eggplant lines, Zhijiang long bean lines, Zheqing broccoli lines, heat-tolerant Chinese cabbage cultivar, greenhouse gourds, and table soybean cultivars, have been released and are widely cultivated across China.
In addition to its domestic accomplishments, the institute has actively engaged in international cooperation and exchanges with renowned institutions such as UC Riverside, the University of Newcastle, the University of Catania, Purdue University, and the USDA Vegetable Laboratory.
More information (in Chinese): http://www.zaas.ac.cn.
