Enthusiasm for the ideas of plant immunity of N.I. Vavilov

Abstract

Thanks to the works of N. I. Vavilov on the study of the geography of varietal and species diversity it was possible to notice a number of correctness common to different cultures. Ecotypes of different plants, developed in the same conditions, reveal much in common with regard to precocity, cold resistance, drought resistance, immunity to fungal diseases, which facilitates the finding of appropriate forms for selection. Modern systematics of cultivated plants, taking into account the intraspecific varietal diversity, requires new, more subtle methods, ranging from cytological to DNA technologies. Results of research N. I. Vavilov, started by him during his student years, testified that the differences in immunity to fungal diseases allow to distinguish certain species, difficult to distinguish by morphologically, as well as varieties of cultivated plants. Bringing the system to the knowledge about the immune systems and variety of pathogens, Vavilov discovered the presence of wonderful repeats in intraspecific genetic variation, as if echoing the main varietal characteristics in closely related species and genera. The accumulation of such facts and their analysis led N. I. Vavilov to the development of the law of homological series in hereditary variability.