Practical Breeding of Red-fleshed Apple: Cultivar Combination for Efficient Red-fleshed Progeny Production

Abstract

We re-investigated the flesh color and S-genotypes of progenies of red-fleshed apple cultivar JPP35, which was produced by ‘Jonathan’ × ‘Pink Pearl’, and clarified that 100% and 96% of progenies from ‘Shinano Sweet’ (S1S7) × ‘JPP35’ (S3S7) and ‘Orin’ (S2S7) × ‘JPP35’ (S3S7) containing S3-RNase allele, respectively, showed the red flesh trait. Using this tight linkage between red flesh trait and self- and cross-compatibility relating allele such as S3-RNase allele, we showed suitable cultivar combinations for efficient production of various red-fleshed apples. We also identified an unknown S-RNase allele in ‘Pink Pearl’ as S11 and determined its partial genomic sequence, including a complete intron with its known S3-RNase allele.