The purpose of this study was to examine the potential utility of marker-assisted selection (MAS) based on storability-associated molecular markers in apple breeding and to provide genotype information for the markers Md-ACS1, Md-ACO1, and Md-PG1 in apple genetic resources as basic data for the use of breeding materials. We analyzed 750 apple genetic resources to assess the allelic composition of Md-ACS1 and Md-ACO1, which play roles in the ethylene biosynthesis pathway, and Md-PG1, which is involved in cell wall degradation. For 108 of the genetic resources used for genotyping, we measured fruit firmness using a texture analyzer (10 mm plunger) at harvest and after 20 days of room temperature (20~25℃) storage. Md-ACS1 and Md-PG1 were found to be associated with changes in fruit firmness (the difference between firmness at harvest and after storage), with ACS1-2/2, PG1-1/1, and PG1-2/2 showing the lowest changes in fruit firmness. In addition, we found that changes in fruit firmness were smallest in late-harvest species, even for the same genotype. In contrast, Md-ACO1 appeared to be unrelated to the storability of fruit. Of the 750 apple genetic resources screened, the genotypes ACS1-2/2, and PG1-1/1 or PG1-2/2 were detected in 3.6% of accessions, including ‘Fuji’, bud mutation cultivars of ‘Fuji’, ‘Chubu’, and ‘Iwakami’. The Md-ACS1 and Md-PG1 markers could have potential utility in assessments of storability and applied in MAS to improve the efficiency of apple breeding.

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• Changes in Cell Wall Sugar Neutral Composition Contribute to Apple Texture Loss during Storage among Cultivars
  Hui Liu, Shiyu Lin, Mengyuan Zhang, Yanrong Lv, Yanping Ma, Jingping Rao, Qinggang Zhu
  Horticulturae.2023; 9(3): 292.     CrossRef
• Identification of apple genes Md-Exp7 and Md-PG1 alleles in advanced selections resistant to scab
  I. I. Suprun, S. V. Tokmakov, E. A. Al-Nakib, E. V. Lobodina
  Vavilov Journal of Genetics and Breeding.2022; 26(7): 645.     CrossRef

Apple (Malus × domestica Borkh.) has gametophytic self-incompatibility (S) controlled by the multi-allelic S-locus. In the present study, S-genotypes of 24 apple cultivars including newly released Korean cultivars and seven crabapple cultivars were identified using S-allele specific polymerase chain reaction analysis. Twelve different S-alleles (S₁, S₂, S₃, S₅, S₇, S₉, S₁₀, S₁₆, S₂₁, S₂₃, S₂₆, and S₂₉) from 31 apple and crabapple cultivars were identified using 23 S-allele specific primers. Among them, S₁ (41.7%), S₃ (58.3%), S₇ (29.2%), and S₉ (54.2%) S-alleles were found to be common in 24 apple cultivars. The newly released Korean cultivars ‘Arisoo’ and ‘Hwangok’ were genetyped as S3S7 and S3S9, respectively. S-genotypes information obtained from the present study will be useful to select proper pollinzers for stable production of apple fruit and to design cross of breeding programs.