![apple germplasm at Plant & Food Research visualised as a pyramid](http://static.sciencelearn.org.nz/images/images/000/000/950/full/the_germplasm_collection_in_apple_breeding_oversize20160310-1585-1z10c0r.jpg?1674165202)
The total apple germplasm1 at Plant & Food Research can be visualised as a pyramid. At the bottom are the genetically diverse apples of the germplasm collection. Higher in the pyramid, quality increases but genetic diversity2 decreases. Breeding programmes bring together materials from throughout the pyramid to produce new cultivars.