Cherries

Abstract

looseness-1Two major cherry species are grown for their fruit, the diploid sweet cherry and the tetraploid sour cherry. For both these species, new cultivars are needed that possess improved fruit quality and disease resistance. Genetic variation exists for most of the desired traits; however, little is known about their inheritance. The one exception is self-compatibility, where the molecular genetic basis has been elucidated in both sweet and sour cherry and molecular markers are available to identify self-compatible individuals in segregating progeny populations. Complete genetic linkage maps in cherry are just now being generated and as a result QTL analyses in cherry lag behind those in other Prunus species, most notably peach. Successful regeneration and transformation of cherry has been reported; however, utilizing this technology for gene function analysis and cultivar generation is still in its infancy.