Molecular evaluation of genetic diversity and S-allele composition of local Spanish sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) cultivars

A group of 28 sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) local cultivars from the Jerte Valley in Western Spain were fingerprinted using microsatellites and their self-incompatibility alleles determined using S-RNase conserved primers. A total of 12 microsatellite primer pairs revealed 42 informative alleles that allowed the unequivocal identification of 26 genotypes. UPGMA cluster analysis of the similarity data produced a clear separation between the old traditional cultivars and the most recent introductions. The S-allele analysis showed a low number of different alleles in the older cultivars studied and revealed the presence of three new S-alleles not described previously. The combined information obtained from SSR fingerprinting and S-allele identification will be useful to optimize the conservation of the cherry genetic resources present in the area. Moreover, this approach can be applied to optimize the conservation of local genetic resources of other fruit tree species.