Abstract
Self and cross-incompatibility determination by means of fruit and seed set experiments or pollen tube growth observations in the style has been frequently reported to be unclear in pear (Pyrus communis L.). Thus,in order to develop a reliable in vivo method to test pollen-pistil incompatibility in pear, pollen tube performance has been studied along the pistil following self and cross-pollinations. Results show that, while pollen tube growth in the style may be an unclear test, ovule observation at the microscope for the presence of pollen tube in the nucellus is a proper method to test incompatibility in this crop. With this analysis we could identify S-alleles of ‘Williams’ (S1S2) and ‘Coscia’(S3S4), and three of the four possible S-genotypes resulting from the ‘Williams’ × ‘Coscia’ cross, as represented by ‘Butirra Precoz Morettini’ (S1S3), ‘Santa Maria Morettini’ (S2S3)and ‘Tosca’ (S1S4). This result demonstrates that ‘Williams’ and ‘Coscia’ cultivars do not share any allele in common. We also established two new inter-incompatibility groups in pear. Furthermore, the presence of a common allele between ‘Williams’ and ‘Agua de Aranjuez’,and ‘Coscia’ and ‘Agua de Aranjuez’, three apparently unrelated old cultivars, may indicate a narrower genetic base than expected for European pear. This finding together with the fact that 40% of new released cultivars have direct or indirect parental relationship with the cultivars ‘Coscia’ and/or ‘Williams’, anticipates the possibility of new cases of cross-incompatibility for this crop in the future. Both the method described and the determination of the S-genotypes will facilitate the characterisation of self and cross-incompatibility relationships in this species.
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Sanzol, J., Herrero, M. Identification of self-incompatibility alleles in pear cultivars (Pyrus communis L.). Euphytica 128, 325–331 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021213905461
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1021213905461