Red skin coloration in pears is caused by anthocyanin accumulation, which contributes to antioxidant activity and enhances consumer preference because of its attractive appearance. However, anthocyanin levels are strongly affected by light, making it difficult to maintain stable coloration under bagging practices commonly used in Korea. In this study, we developed the first red-skinned pear cultivar in Korea, ‘Jungmojeoksaek1ho’ (Pyrus pyrifolia×(P. pyrifolia×P. communis)), and examined changes in anthocyanin content according to the timing of bagging. ‘Jungmojeoksaek1ho’ originated from a cross between ‘Manpungbae’ (P. pyrifolia) and ‘Oharabeni’ (P. pyrifolia×P. communis) in 2003 and was registered as a new cultivar in 2025 (Registration No. 10597). The trees were vigorous, with a spreading growth habit. The mean fruit weight was 291.5 g, lower than that of the control cultivar ‘Wonhwang’ (P. pyrifolia), with soluble solids content of 12.8° Brix and titratable acidity of 0.31%. Anthocyanin content analysis of the peel revealed that ‘Jungmojeoksaek1ho’ maintained high levels until 80 days after full bloom (DAFB), followed by a sharp decline. Bagging at 60 or 80 DAFB reduced anthocyanin accumulation, whereas bagging after 100 DAFB maintained relatively high levels in the later stages. These results suggested that bagging after 100 DAFB was optimal for achieving stable red coloration (Registration No. 10597).

Pears (Pyrus spp.) are economically important fruit trees grown extensively world-wide. To identify QTLs related to key agronomically important fruit traits, we conducted QTL analysis using an interspecific 178 F₁ populations derived from a cross between ‘Manpungbae’ and ‘Oharabeni’. Phenotyping data, including fruit weight, fruit length and diameter, fruit shape index (FSI), soluble sugar content, fruit firmness (FF), and titratable acidity (TA) were investigated from 2016 to 2018. Using the previously constructed genetic linkage map together with the three-year phenotypic dataset, we detected 14 significant QTLs associated with the control of fruit weight, fruit length and diameter, FSI, FF, and TA on linkage groups 3, 10, 11, 12, and 13. These findings provide a useful resource for advancing genetic and genomic studies in pears and will aid breeding efforts to improve major fruit traits.

‘Jinhyang’ is a fragrant pear bred in 2019. Field crossings to breed fragrant pears were conducted in 1984 at the Pear Research Center of the National Institute of Horticultural and Herbal Science. The maternal and paternal parents were ‘Okusankichi’ (IT254489) and ‘Hori’ (IT226291), respectively. The 84-16-5 line, which had a good fragrance, was first selected in 2007, and regional adaptation tests were conducted from 2011 to 2019 in five regions (Suwon, Chuncheon, Jinju, Yecheon, and Naju). The morphological characteristics of ‘Jinhyang’ include vigorous spreading tree form, brown-colored one-year-old shoot, elliptical leaf blade, round leaf tip, and white-colored flowers. The full bloom date was April 11, and the harvest date was in late September. The fruit of ‘Jinhyang’ weighs 439.9 g and has a soluble solid content of 13.0 °Brix, with a good sugar-acid balance and abundant juice. Analysis of the fragrance components of ‘Jinhyang’ revealed the presence of a large amount of fragrant volatile compounds compared to that of the standard cultivar ‘Niitaka’. In particular, ‘Jinhyang’ contains ethyl hexanoate and ethyl butanoate, which are known volatile compounds generated by pineapple and mango. Because of its strong uprightness, cultivation management, such as shoot bending, is necessary to maintain flower buds (Registration No. 9387).

“CenSall” is a cultivar that can be easily consumed due to its thin fruit skin and small core. “Whangkeumbae” and “Minibae” were crossed in 1999 to breed this pear cultivar. After the first selection in 2010, regional adaptation tests were conducted in five regions (Suwon, Chuncheon, Jinju, Yecheon, and Naju) from 2011 to 2017. The selected tree exhibited a vigorous spreading form and white flowers. “CenSall” contains 165 mg of pollen per 100 flowers; therefore, it can be used as a pollinator. However, it is sensitive to scabs, and thus, cultivation management to control scab is necessary. “CenSall,” harvested in early August, had a fruit weight of 336.3 g and soluble solid contents of 10.2 °Brix, hardness of 2.4 kg⋅8 mmØ^-1, and the fruit skin color was yellowish green. The fruit has many edible portions, accounting for 94.5% of the entire flesh. Notably, only 22.7% of the seeds developed normally but fruited stably. The thickness of the hypodermis was 62.57 μm, which was half the thickness of the main cultivar “Niitaka” (113.49 μm). The cuticle developed without a cork layer, fruit skin was smooth, and it could be eaten with the peel (Registration No. 8046).

Pear (Pyrus spp.) is an economically important fruit tree that grows extensively worldwide. To facilitate the identification of agronomically important traits and provide new information for genetic and genomic research concerning this fruit tree, a high-density genetic linkage map of pear was constructed using 178 F₁ populations derived from a cross between ‘Manpungbae’ and ‘Oharabeni’. Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) detected by genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) and simple sequence repeats (SSRs) developed from pears were analyzed to construct a genetic linkage map. SSR markers were used to locate the corresponding chromosome number for each linkage group (LG). A total of 1,807 GBS-SNPs and 41 SSRs were anchored to the integrated genetic linkage map. Seventeen LGs were identified, covering a genetic distance of 1,519.4 cM with an average marker density of 0.87 cM. The lengths of the LGs ranged from 70.9 cM (LG 14) to 160.4 cM (LG 15). Each LG had SSR markers from 1 to 5, except for LGs 7, 8, and 9. Our integrated genetic map of pear could be used as a basic frame map for comparative analysis of genomic structure between different pear research groups.

Interspecific hybridization is a valuable approach to generate genetic variation and to introgress desirable genes. The
objective
of the current study was to estimate the heritability and correlation coefficient of several fruit traits for three years (from 2016 to 2018) using a set of 178 interspecific F₁ populations developed from a cross between ‘Manpungbae’ (Pyrus pyrifolia) and ‘Oharabeni’ (P. pyrifolia×P. communis). For ‘Manpungbae’, the average values of fruit weight, length, diameter, fruit shape index, and soluble sugar content for the three years were 967.8 g, 109.0 mm, 125.7 mm, 0.87, and 13.4 °Brix, respectively. The average values for ‘Oharabeni’ were 268.2 g, 75.2 mm, 81.4 mm, 0.93, and 9.9 °Brix, respectively. The average values and heritability for three years in F₁ progenies were 222.0 g and 85.55%, 67.3 mm and 84.14%, 75.4 mm and 81.18%, 0.89 and 79.33%, and 10.7 °Brix and 77.75%, respectively. Among the five fruit traits we surveyed, the Pearson’s correlation coefficients between three traits (weight, length, and diameter) were highly significantly positive (over 0.8) for the three years.