S-Genotype Profiles of Azerbaijan Apricot Germplasm

Abstract

Apricot is one of the important export products of Azerbaijan. Some studies showed that unproductiveness problem of apricots together with increasing production areas arises because of self-incompatibility. In flowering plants, gametophytic self-incompatibility, controlled by a single locus with several allelic variants, is one of the major problems preventing self-fertilization. Among fruit trees, apricots show a high degree self-incompatibility, especially in Middle-Asian and Iranian-Caucasian eco-geographical groups. In this study, the S-genotypes of a set of 61 Azerbaijan apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) cultivars were determined by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) amplification of their S-RNase intron regions. In addition, the S-genotyping method was extended to the S haplotype-specific F-box (SFB) gene to detect the non-functional SC-haplotype and hence identification of self-compatible apricot cultivars were carried out by using four primer pairs (SRc-F and SRc-R, EM-PC2consFD and EM-PC3consRD, AprSC8-R and PaConsI-F, AprFBC8-F and AprFBC8-R). A total of 9 S-RNase alleles (S2, S3, S6, S7, S8, S11, S12, S13 and Sc) were determined in the 61 apricot genotypes. As Azerbaijan apricot genotypes are determined to be mostly self-incompatible, the data obtained hereby might be of good use for apricot breeding programs and more practically, for new apricot plantations; thus, pollinator cultivars should be considered when self-incompatible apricot cultivars are being used.