INCOMPATIBILITY IN APRICOT (PRUNUS-ARMENIACA L.) - METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS

The recent introduction of new self-incompatible varieties of apricot has required further research on the extent of self-incompatibility in apricot and its genetic determinism. The different laboratory and fie ld techniques utilized to date for incompatibility studies in apricot have often given markedly diverging results, leading to difficulty of interpretation. The purpose of this study was therefore to make a crit ical assessment of the reliability of the various methods, to obtain a more precise tool for compatibility studies. Forty-eight apricot cros ses were assessed over a two-year period and the results compared usin g the normal field techniques (active pollination without bagging, act ive pollination with bagging and passive pollination) and laboratory t ests (fluorescence test). The present study reports on some aspects of the different techniques and offers methodological suggestions for im proved practical application of the various tests.