Rapid identification of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase genotypes in cultivars of Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai) using CAPS markers

In Japanese pear (Pyrus pyrifolia Nakai), fruit storage potential is closely related to the amount of ethylene produced. We have developed a rapid and accurate method for analyzing genes involved in high ethylene production during fruit ripening in Japanese pear. This involves cleaved-amplified polymorphic sequences (CAPS) of two 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylate (ACC) synthase genes (PPACS1 and PPACS2). Two CAPS markers (A for PPACS1 and B for PPACS2), associated with the amount of ethylene produced, were identified. Marker A was associated with high ethylene producers and marker B with moderate ethylene producers. The absence of these two markers enabled the identification of low ethylene producers. Using these markers, we have identified ethylene genotypes for 40 Japanese pear cultivars and two Chinese pear (P. bretschneideri) cultivars that are commercially important and used in breeding programs. Furthermore, we performed linkage analysis of these two genes in the F-2 population, which revealed that the recombination frequency between the two markers was 20.8 +/- 3.6%. This information is critical to the selection of parents and in breeding strategies to improve storage ability of Japanese pears.