Breeding of strawberries variety "Old Black", which is of uncertain origin. This variety was created by pollination, not direct manipulation of the plant's genes. Molecular breeding is the application of molecular biology tools in a breeding program. Genetic engineering is typically defined as the introduction of non-native genes into an organism. An excellent example of transgenic modification is in the case of cold resistant strawberries. In one particular variety genes from the arctic flounder, a fish that lives in very cold water, were used to give plants resistance to cold. This modification works because of the genetics of the arctic flounder. It lives
Breeding of strawberries have employed many breeding techniques, starting with traditional plant breeding and then moving on to molecular breeding and genetic engineering in the 20th century. In Europe, there were three main strawberry species. They are "Fragaria vesca", "F. viridis" and "F. moschata". By the time American plants were introduced, the most commonly grown of these was "F. vesca". A species that has both red and blue varieties . It is also known as the "woodland strawberry". Of particular interest is "F. sylvestris" var. "semperflorens", a variety of "F vesca". "F. sylvestris" var. "semperflorens" is unusual, because it is ever-bearing, meaning that