S-GENOTYPING OF SYRIAN PEARS (PYRUS SYRIACA) FOR THE PURPOSE OF FINDING NEW POTENT POLLINATORS OF THE EUROPEAN PEAR (PYRUS COMMUNIS)

In Israel the yield of European pears is relatively low.
We suspect that this is due to inefficient fertilization since ‘Spadona’ the main cultivar is semi compatible with all of its three pollinators ‘Coscia’, ‘Gentile’’’ and ‘Spadochina’. However, the Syrian pear (Pyrus syriaca) grows wild in Israel and blooms intensively, overlapping the blooming of the cultivated European pears.
Cross-fertilization between Syrian pear and ‘Spadona’ was shown to be efficient suggesting that Syrian pear might be a potent pollinator for ‘Spadona’. Therefore Syrian pear seedlings, from different sites in north-east Israel were S-genotyped.
Eleven out of the 26 were found fully compatible with the four European pear varieties cultivated in Israel.
By this screening, ten new S-RNase alleles were identified.
In addition from two P. betulifolia and one P. korshinskii seedlings, four S-RNases were cloned, two are new, one had been cloned previously and one was identical to an S-RNase allele cloned from Syrian pear in this work.

I Workshop on Floral Biology and S-Incompatibility in Fruit Species

A.H. Zisovich, A. Raz, R.A. Stern, M. Goldway

Pyrus betulifolia, S-RNase analysis, S-allele, gametophytic self incompatibility (GSI)

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2012.967.21