The inheritance of the red colour character in European pear (Pyrus communis) and its map position in the mutated cultivar 'Max Red Bartlett'

The inheritance of the red colour character in European pear (Pyrus communis L.) was studied over 3 years in seven progeny obtained by using the cultivars 'Max Red Bartlett', 'Cascade' and 'California' as red-skinned fruit parental lines. One of these progeny (derived from the cross 'Abbe Fetel' x 'Max Red Bartlett', a red mutation of 'Bartlett') was already used to construct two linkage maps and, being 'red colour' a monogenic dominant trait, it was possible to locate it as morphological marker in the linkage group 4 of 'Max Red Bartlett'. For the first time, this trait has been mapped out of linkage group 9 in a species belonging to the Maloideae subfamily moreover in a mutated sport. An improved knowledge of the genetic basis of production and accumulation of red pigments in the fruit skin will better support the pear breeding programmes aimed to select new cultivars carrying this appealing trait.