The Russian botanist and geneticist Nikolai Ivanovich Vavilov (1887-1943) served early as a professor at the Leningrad Agricultural Institute. In 1927 he presented his so-called "gene centre theory" based on impressions gained during worldwide travels. This theory assumes that there are centres on earth with a considerable diversity of cultivated plants. He pointed out that these gene centres largely coincide with the areas where agriculture and the first advanced civilisations originated. Today, the eight "classical" gene centres are still considered to be Central America, parts of Peru and Chile, the Mediterranean region and parts of the Middle East, India, as well as former Indochina and southern China.
This theory is also related to the origin of cultivated grape varieties, whose gene centre is said to lie in Transcaucasia, among other places. However, this gene centre theory was then also critically expanded by other scientists. During his numerous research trips, Vavilov also devoted himself, among other things, to researching the origins of wild gra pevines. He distinguished the subspecies Vitis vinifera ssp. caucasica Vavilov (Caucasian wild grapevine, also known as Danube wild grapevine) from the European grapevine species Vitis vinifera. It is considered a regional expression of the subspecies Vitis vinifera ssp. sylvestris Gmelin. However, the name part "Vavilov" is mostly omitted. See also under Asiatic vines, European v ines and Vine systematics, as well as a list of relevant keywords under Vine.
Picture left: By World Telegram staff photographer, public domain, link
Picture middle: By sculpture K. S. Suminov, Sealle, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Stamp: By ЦФА - nestor.minsk, Public domain, Link
