Almond S-genotype identification by PCR using specific and non-specific allele primers

The knowledge of the S-genotypes in the different almond cultivars has advanced quickly in the last few years;' mainly by the electrophoretic separation of the stylar S-RNases as well as by the partial amplification of S-genes by PCR. The utilization of PCR primers designed from conserved sequences of almond S-RNases allows the amplification of different S-alleles, although some problems have appeared as the lack of polymorphism between the S-f and S-3 amplified PCR products when using the ConF/ConR primers. To solve this problem, S-3 specific primers were designed to be used in the S-genotype identification of four breeding families obtained from the crosses of "Tuono" (S1Sf) by "Ferragnes" and "Ferralise" (both S1S3) and their reciprocals. In addition, specific identification of the S-f allele by specific primers SfF/SfR was tested.