Pollination in pear: a hormonal and self-incompatibility story

Pollination in pear is not always straightforward, and a major problem is the insufficient flower fertilization and consequently a low fruit set, especially in self-incompatible pear varieties. In order to increase fruit set, farmers use gibberellin treatments, with a high risk of misshapen fruit. Furthermore, these growth regulator can also lead to excessive fruit set leading to substantial fruit thinning costs and a higher degree of fruit drop. In this PhD project we will evaluate the effect of self- and cross-pollination and gibberellin treatments on pear flower pollination, fruit set and fruit development using a molecular approach. We will test different commercial pear varieties but also older less common pear varieties. Furthermore we will clone and study the S-locus of these pear varieties to formulate incompatibility groups to facilitate frames in choosing the best pollen donor for their respective commercial cultivars.

This project is in collaboration with Professor Wannes Keulemans (KULeuven).