The Lactuca collection was originally formed at INRAE, Versailles, with 150 varieties of L.sativa introduced before 1984, then 313 varieties between 1984 and 1992. INRAE has conducted surveys of wild lettuce in France since 1977 and almost 50% of the current collection of wild related species corresponds to the accessions collected in the 1980s. This collection has regularly been enriched by more recent collections in France, genotypes coming from foreign genebanks or other laboratories, often in relation to specific research programs. The collection includes not only old but also modern varieties acquired since 1993. Currently, the collection includes more than 700 L.sativa genotypes and 238 genotypes of wild related species, of which 86% belong to species compatible with the cultivated lettuce, L. sativa.

 ⇒ You can consult part of the Lettuce Collection on the GnpIS site and on the Dutch International Lactuca Database.

Research programs on lettuce focus on the resistance of pests, mainly looking for new resistance genes. For genetic determinism studies and/or molecular markers, genetic resources and populations have been created at INRAE, often in partnership (RIL populations and isogenic lines in particular).

We are partners of the "EVA" (European Evaluation Network) project for which we have supplied 66 accessions of our collection. For more information click here.

Learning resources

You can freely use these learning and communication tools by mentioning the source (INRAE CRB-Leg). Send us feedback on their use.

• Poster about Lettuce

• Poster about the Lettuce Collection INRAE

• Poster on the “Protection against mildew of lettuce: a diversity of responses to SDP”