Cloning and characterization of genomic DNA sequences of four self-incompatibility alleles in sweet cherry ( Prunus avium L.).

Gametophytic self-incompatibility (GSI) in sweet cherry is determined by a locus S with multiple alleles. In the style, the S-locus codifies for an allele-specific ribonuclease ( S-RNase) that is involved in the rejection of pollen that carries the same S allele. In this work we report the cloning and genomic DNA sequence analysis including the 5' flanking regions of four S-RNases of sweet cherry ( Prunus avium L., Rosaceae). DNA from the cultivars Ferrovia, Pico Colorado, Taleguera Brillante and Vittoria was amplified through PCR using primers designed in the conserved sequences of sweet cherry S-RNases. Two alleles were amplified for each cultivar and three of them correspond to three new S-alleles named S23, S24 and S25 present in 'Pico Colorado', 'Vittoria' and 'Taleguera Brillante' respectively. To confirm the identity of the amplified fragments, the genomic DNA of these three putative S-RNases and the allele S12 amplified in the cultivar Ferrovia were cloned and sequenced. The nucleotide and deduced amino-acid sequences obtained contained the structural features of rosaceous S-RNases. The isolation of the 5'-flanking sequences of these four S-RNases revealed a conserved putative TATA box and high similarity among them downstream from that sequence. However, similarity was low compared with the 5'-flanking regions of S-RNases from the Maloideae. S6- and S24-RNase sequences are highly similar, and most amino-acid substitutions among these two RNases occur outside the rosaceous hypervariable region (RHV), but within another highly variable region. The confirmation of the different specificity of these two S-RNases would help elucidate which regions of the S-RNase sequences play a role in S-pollen specific recognition.