Genetics of Self-incompatibility in Sour Cherry
Michigan State University Researchers, funded by NRI Plant Genome Program, demonstrated the scientific basis necessary to produce pollinator plants for sour cherry.
The researchers determined the genetic and molecular bases for the control of gametophytic self-incompatibility and compatibility in tetraploid sour cherry. Genetic studies demonstrated that self-incompatibility is due to the accumulation of a minimum of two non-functional S -haplotypes that have lost pistil (stylar- S) or pollen (pollen- S) function. Subsequently, molecular analyses revealed that these non-functional mutants were all structural alterations of the stylar- S , pollen- S or their up-stream regions. These discoveries provide the fundamental understanding necessary for the implementation of marker-assisted selection (MAS) for self-compatibility in sour cherry breeding programs. This understanding and MAS capability are critical for sour cherry breeding programs as any new sour cherry cultivar released must be self-compatible to avoid the inefficiencies associated with having to provide a pollinator cultivar.
The researchers published their findings in 2006 in three journals, Genetics, Plant Molecular Biology, and Journal of Heredity.
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