Wild and Rare Self-Incompatibility Allele S17 Found in 24 Sweet Cherry (Prunus avium L.) Cultivars

Abstract The pollination of self-incompatible diploid sweet cherry is determined by the S-locus alleles. We resolved S-alleles 50 cultivars grown in Estonia and their incompatibility groups, which were previously unknown for most tested cultivars. used consensus primers SI-19/20, SI-31/32, PaConsI, PaConsII followed allele-specific sequencing to identify S-genotypes. Surprisingly, 48% (24/50) cultivars, including 17 Estonian carry rare S-allele S , had initially been described wild cherries Belgium Germany. -allele could originate from ‘Leningradskaya tchernaya’ (S 6 |S ), has extensively breeding. Four studied carrying are partly self-compatible, whereas other 20 with have not reported be self-compatible. recommended pollinator seven same S-genotype, four -allele, suggesting heritable reduced effectiveness self-infertility. classified newly genotyped into 15 known we proposed new 64–67, genotypes 3 4 5 respectively, makes them excellent pollinators all across Europe. Alternatively, frequency might underestimated Eastern European populations some currently unidentified potentially .