Characterization of the genetic diversity of red-fleshed pear accessions from the Emilia-Romagna region

Germplasm collections represent a reservoir of traits and genes that might be used in breeding programs to cope with evolving market demand. To this extent, some old pear accessions still cultivated in the Apennine Mountains in Italy possess a red fruit flesh trait. This paper reports the molecular analysis of 33 red-fleshed pear accessions collected in different regions. These accessions were profiled by 14 simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers. The molecular analysis revealed both cases of synonymy and homonymy, and finally 6 unique genotypes were identified. These data will be used to improve the germplasm conservation strategy for this trait, and it will represent the base for supporting ongoing breeding programs.