Related polymorphic F-box protein genes between haplotypes clustering in the BAC contig sequences around the S-RNase of Japanese pear

Most fruit trees in the Rosaceae exhibit self-incompatibility, which is controlled by the pistil S gene, encoding a ribonuclease (S-RNase), and the pollen S gene at the S-locus. The pollen S in Prunus is an F-box protein gene (SLF/SFB) located near the S-RNase, but it has not been identified in Pyrus and Malus. In the Japanese pear, various F-box protein genes (PpSFBB(-α–γ)) linked to the S-RNase are proposed as the pollen S candidate. Two bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) contigs around the S-RNase genes of Japanese pear were constructed, and 649 kb around S(4)-RNase and 378 kb around S(2)-RNase were sequenced. Six and 10 pollen-specific F-box protein genes (designated as PpSFBB(4-u1–u4, 4-d1–d2) and PpSFBB(2-u1–u5,) (2-d1–d5), respectively) were found, but PpSFBB(4-α–γ) and PpSFBB(2-γ) were absent. The PpSFBB(4) genes showed 66.2–93.1% amino acid identity with the PpSFBB(2) genes, which indicated clustering of related polymorphic F-box protein genes between haplotypes near the S-RNase of the Japanese pear. Phylogenetic analysis classified 36 F-box protein genes of Pyrus and Malus into two major groups (I and II), and also generated gene pairs of PpSFBB genes and PpSFBB/Malus F-box protein genes. Group I consisted of gene pairs with 76.3–94.9% identity, while group II consisted of gene pairs with higher identities (>92%) than group I. This grouping suggests that less polymorphic PpSFBB genes in group II are non-S pollen genes and that the pollen S candidates are included in the group I PpSFBB genes.