Sweet cherries are self-incompatible and cannot be fertilized by their own pollen. A gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI) system determines fertility in sweet cherries and prevents pollination with own and genetically related pollen.
This mechanism is controlled by a multi-allelic S-locus coding for two genes involved in fertilization: the S-allele-specific ribonuclease (S-RNase) expressed in the female style and the S-specific F-box protein (SFB) in the male pollen. Since the beginning of the 20th century, systematic studies have been carried out to describe the fertilization relationships between sweet cherry cultivars.
Since then, information on the S-genotypes of sweet cherry cultivars has been constantly increasing. This information is very important for cherry growing, breeding, and breeding research. The S-genotypes of sweet cherry cultivars were collected by evaluating S-allele studies described in the literature. The S-genotypes of 1,700 sweet cherry accessions were recorded.
A summary of all the results of S-genotyping in sweet cherries can be found in "Self-incompatibility (S) genotypes of cultivated sweet cherries – An overview 2023-Update" published in the OpenAgrar repository, https://doi.org/10.5073/20230302-143854-0
Mirko Schuster, Susan Schröpfer, Henryk Flachowsky
Institute for Breeding Research on Fruit Crops, Julius Kühn-Institut (DE)
06 Feb 2026
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