Evaluation location: Oregon, United States
The USDA-ARS National Clonal Germplasm Repository in Corvallis, Oregon has assembled a diverse living collection of Cydonia genotypes originating from more than 15 countries, and maintained as self-rooted orchard trees. We evaluated 24 apple SSR primer pairs that also amplify in pear for cross-transference to 45 diverse quince accessions from the Corvallis collection. Nine apple primer pairs that appeared polymorphic in quince were selected and used to evaluate genetic relationships among 92 quince genotypes and 3 intergeneric pear x quince hybrids (?Pyronia veitchii (Trab.) Guillaumin). The results of this study were presented at the ISHS XI International Pear Symposium, Patagonia, Argentina in November, 2010 and accepted for publication in Acta Horticulturae.