Analysis of S-allele genetic diversity in Sicilian almond germplasm comparing different molecular methods

Italian almond germplasm is characterized by a wide diversity in several growing areas among which Sicily is one of the most important. Analysis with consensus and specific primers and DNA sequencing was performed to investigate S-RNase genetic diversity and to elucidate the homology rate within a genetic pool of 27 Italian accessions. Interestingly, some of the self-compatible cultivars did not show the presence of Sf allele. Amplicons from consensus and allele-specific PCR primers revealed a high level of variability. Sequencing of all the S-RNase amplicons derived from consensus primers allowed the identification of two new S-RNase alleles (S51 and S52). Surprisingly, despite the AA repl…