Abstract
ABSTRACT Apple orchards require the presence of a different genotype to pollinate the fruit producing cultivar. This is due to the process of gametophytic self-incompatibility present in most species and cultivars of the genus Malus. The fruit producing cultivar and the pollinizer must be genetically compatible to ensure fruit set and symmetrical and adequate fruit formation. The aim of this work was to evaluate five potential pollinizers for the new apple cultivar SCS426 Venice by genotyping the self-incompatibility locus (S-locus) and by controlled pollination in the field. The S-locus was screened using molecular markers and the fertilization capacity was evaluated by monitoring the fruit set after artificial pollination. Three genotypes were identified as semi-compatible (selection 135/140, cultivar SCS433 Felix 3 and SCS425 Luiza) and two as fully compatible (‘SCS431 Felix 1’ and ‘SCS434 Felix 4’) with ‘SCS426 Venice’. Regardless of the level of compatibility, all genotypes tested are efficient for the fertilization of ‘SCS426 Venice’ flowers and can be used as pollinizers in commercial orchards of this cultivar.
Highlights
Presenting hermaphrodite flowers, apples (Malus × domestica Borkh.) depend on cross-pollination for the fertilization of the flowers and consequent fruit set
The self-incompatibility locus (S-locus) was screened using molecular markers and the fertilization capacity was evaluated by monitoring the fruit set after artificial pollination
Three genotypes were identified as semi-compatible and two as fully compatible (‘SCS431 Felix 1’ and ‘SCS434 Felix 4’) with ‘SCS426 Venice’
Summary
Apples (Malus × domestica Borkh.) depend on cross-pollination for the fertilization of the flowers and consequent fruit set. This necessity is due to the gametophytic self-incompatibility mechanism presented in most species of the genus Malus and in several genera of the Rosaceae family (Fujii et al 2016). Most apple cultivars do not produce fruit by self-pollination or by crosses between genotypes that have the same alleles in the S-locus, responsible for gametophytic self-incompatibility control (Ramírez and Davenport 2013; Kasajima 2017). Scion cultivars and pollinizers need to be genetically compatible (Orcheski and Brown 2012), since the pollen tube does not grow when the S-allele in the haploid cell of the pollen grain is the same to one of the two S-alleles expressed in the pistil (Matsumoto et al 1999; Sassa et al 2007)
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