Inheritance of self-compatibility in almond

Abstract

The incidence of self-compatibility in 742 almond trees, resulting from 25 inter-cultivar crossings in which at least one of the parents is self-compatible (Genco and Tuono), was determined by means of microscopic observation of the pollen tube growth in the pistil. The data obtained are consistent with the assumption that self-incompatibility in the genus Prunus is controlled by a single, multiallelic gene whose expression in the pollen is gametophytic. The 100 per cent occurrence of selfcompatible specimens in the cross where the Ferragnes cultivar is the female parent is due to the existence of an allele shared with the self-compatible cultivars used. The high number of progeny examined and the method used to ascertain the self-compatibility make the results very reliable, as opposed to other less precise methodologies or tests with few seedlings. © The Genetical Society of Great Britain.