SANJA RADIČEVIĆ1*, SLAĐANA MARIĆ1, RADOSAV CEROVIĆ2, MILENA ĐORĐEVIĆ1,

NEBOJŠA MILOŠEVIĆ1, IVANA GLIŠIĆ1, MILAN LUKIĆ3

1Fruit Research Institute, Čačak, Kralja Petra I 9, 32000 Čačak, Republic of Serbia, *sradicevic@institut-cacak.org
2Innovation Center of the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy in Belgrade, Karnegijeva 2, 11000 Belgrade, Republic of Serbia
3Institute for Medicinal Plant Research ‘Dr. Josif Pančić’, Tadeuša Košćuška 1, 11000 Belgrade, Republic of Serbia

In the structure of fruit growing in the Republic of Serbia, cherries are of exceptional potential for both economic and traditional reasons − in particular
sour cherry which ranks third in the total fruit production and representing, together with raspberry, the most important export. The average year
production of sweet and sour cherry fruits for the period 2016-2020 was 19,855 and 115,831 tonnes, respectively [1]. Compared to other temperate zone
fruit species, cherry breeding improvements have been relatively slow; this is especially true for sour cherries. New solutions imply selection of landraces
or/and the use indigenous genotypes as parents, that have been in progress in Europe [2]. Decades of scientific work and experience in developing of new
cultivars, especially of stone fruit species at Fruit Research Institute, Čačak (FRI), resulted in certain achievements in breeding new cherry genotypes. The
use of modern molecular and reproductive biology methods, as well as their complementary application for facing the actual challenges in cherry
production and science, is important part of cherry breeding work at FRI.

S-genotyping was used for: i) cultivar identification and

discrimination of more than 50 introduced sweet cherry
Planned hybridization within P. avium and P. cerasus, as well as selection from the natural cultivars; ii) first identification of S-haplotype and
cherry population in West Serbia region in accordance to defined breeding goals, resulted in incompatibility group in eight introduced old cultivars
seven released cultivars and a numerous of promising genotypes (Tab. 1). and 56 genotypes within breeding programmes in the
Table 1. Cultivars/promising genotypes developed within cherry breeding program at FRI, Čačak Balkan region (Fig. 1); iii) diversity evaluation of local
sweet cherry germplasm (32 previously unreported
Genotype Realization Origin Ripening time Fruit weight Skin colour Stalk
landraces) originated in the Balkan countries [3,4,5,6,7].
Sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.)
‘Asenova Rana’ 1984. ‘Drogans G.K.’ × ‘Majova Rana’ 2nd ripening week 6.5 g yellow-red mid-long
In recent years, through realization of the project
‘Čarna’ 1988. ‘Majova Rana’ × ‘Schrecken B.’ 3rd ripening week 7.0 g dark red mid-long
CherrySeRB, particular attention has been paid to
V/30 under procedure ‘Majova Rana’ × ‘Primavera’ 1st ripening week 6.0 g red mid-long
identify the S-haplotypes in tetraploid sour cherry
Sour cherry (Prunus cerasus L.)
genotypes.
‘Čačanski Rubin’ 1973. ‘Shasse Morello’ × ‘Köröser W.’ 2nd decade of June 6.0 g ruby-red mid-long
‘Šumadinka’ 1984. ‘Köröser W.’ × ‘H.K. Weichsel’ 3rd decade of June 7.0 g dark red mid-long
‘Sofija’ 2015. ‘Čačanski Rubin’ × ‘H.K. Weichsel’ 2nd decade of June 7.5 g ruby-red long
‘Nevena’ 2015. ‘Köröser W.’ × ‘H.K. Weichsel’ 3rd decade of June 7.0 g dark red short
‘Iskra’ 2015. ‘Köröser W.’ × ‘Heimanns Rubin’ 3rd decade of June 8.0 g light red mid-long
II/40 / ‘Köröser W.’ × ‘H.K. Weichsel’b 3rd decade of June 6.0 g ruby-red mid-long
V/106 / ‘Köröser W.’ × ‘H.K. Weichsel’ 2nd decade of June 6.0 g light red mid-long
GV-6 under procedure local selection 1st decade of June 6.0 g dark red long
GV-10 under procedure local selection 2nd decade of June 7.0 g dark red long Figure 1. PCR products of the S-RNase amplified fragment
obtained with consensus primers for the second intron of
cherry genotypes
Pollen performance in vivo and final outcome of the fertilization represent
overlapping effect of the several factors – pollenizer genotype, behaviour
of pollenizers at different temperatures, the influence of pollinated
cultivar on pollen performance, as well as the influence of temperature
on male-female relations [8]. Based on fluorescent-microscopy and Figure 2. Pollen tubes growth in the
histological methods, assessment of female flower elements functionality style and ovary of sweet cherry
in cherries revealed its dependence on genotypic factors, and the air
temperature during the full flowering phenophase [9,10,11]. The main Figure 3. Histological investigation
idea of a current CherrySeRB project is to evaluate Serbian and Balkan of sour cherry ovary
cherry germplasm with the aims of characterization of its potential for
desirable reproductive properties and defining ʻgood reproductive 1. Milatović, D. (2023). Stone fruit trees (Čačak, Republic of Serbia: Scientific Pomological Society of Serbia), pp. 780.
behaviour cherry modelʼ that can face warmer temperature conditions 2. Schuster, M., Apostol, J., Iezzoni, A., Jensen, M., and Milatović, D. (2017). Sour cherry varieties and improvement. In Cherries: Botany,
Production and Uses, J. Quero-Garcia, A. Iezzoni, J. Pulawska, and G. Lang, eds. (Wallingford, UK: CAB International), p. 95‒116.
during the flowering. 3. Radičević, S., Marić, S., and Cerović, R. (2015). S-allele constitution and flowering time synchronization – preconditions for effective
fertilization in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.) orchards. Rom. Biotechol. Lett. 20 (6), 10977−11006
https://www.rombio.eu/rbl6vol20/12.%20Radicevici.pdf.
4. Marić, S., Radičević, S., Lukić, M., Cerović, R., and Paunović, S.A. (2017). Determination of S-genotype in apple and sweet cherry cultivars
released at Fruit Research Institute, Čačak. Genetika 49 (1), 127−138 https://doi.org/10.2298/GENSR1701127M.
Up to now, at FRI, Čačak, two sweet cherry and five sour cherry 5. Marić, S., Radičević, S., Popovska, M., Gjamovski, V., and Milošević, N. (2019b). Identification of S-alleles in some indigenous sweet cherry
genotypes grown in Ohrid region. Paper presented at: X International Scientific Agriculture Symposium ‘Agrosym 2019’, Jahorina (Republic
cultivars have been realized; a numerous of promising genotypes are of Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina: University of East Sarajevo, Faculty of Agriculture).
6. Marić, S., Radičević, S., Milošević, N., Popovska, M., Malchev, S, Glišić, I., and Đorđević M. (2020). An overview of self-incompatibility (S)
under the different phases of the evaluation process, or procedure of genotypes of autochthonous sweet cherries grown in Balkan region. Journal of Mountain Agriculture on the Balkans 23 (2), 168−181.
7. Marić, S., Radičević, S., Milošević, N., Glišić, I., and Đorđević, M. (2021). Determining S-allelic constitution and incompatibility group in
recognition. some indigenous sweet cherry genotypes grown in West Serbia region. Journal of Mountain Agriculture on the Balkans 24 (6), 382−400.
8. Radičević, S., Cerović, R., Nikolić, D., and Đorđević, M. (2016). The effect of genotype and temperature on pollen tube growth and
Identification of S-haplotypes in both sweet and sour cherry, use of fertilization in sweet cherry (Prunus avium L.). Euphytica 209, 121–136 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10681-016-1645-y.
modern methods of floral biology and their complementary application 9. Cerović, R., Radičević, S., Ružić, Đ., Đorđević, M., and Vujović, T. (2014). Functionality of embryo sacs as related to their vitality and
fertilization success in ῾Asenova Rana᾿ sweet cherry. Journal of Pomology, 48 (187/188), 97–104 https://www.institut-
cacak.org/cvarkov/pdf/vocarstvo/Vo%C4%87arstvo_48_187-188.pdf.
for investigation of different aspects of pollen-pistil interaction are 10. Radičević, S., Cerović, R., Marić, S., Milošević, N., Glišić, I., Mitrović, O., and Korićanac, A. (2018a). Biological properties of sour cherry
important parts of cherry breeding work at FRI. (Prunus cerasus L.) genotypes newly developed at Fruit Research Institute, Čačak. Journal of Pomology 52 (202), 59–66
https://www.institut-cacak.org/cvarkov/pdf/vocarstvo/Vo%C4%87arstvo_52_202.pdf.
Nowadays, cherry breeding at FRI assumes the use of indigenous 11. Radičević, S., Ognjanov, V., Marić, S., and Barać, G. (2021b). The effect of genotype and temperature interaction on pollen performance in
the pistils of autochthonous sour cherry cultivar ‘Feketićka’. Zemdirbyste-Agriculture 108 (3), 271–278 http://www.zemdirbyste-
genotypes, in order to contribute to sustainable cherry production and agriculture.lt/wp-content/uploads/2021/08/108_3_str35.pdf.

ensure the availability of healthy fruits for the future. This work was supported by the Science Fund of the Republic of Serbia, GRANT No7739716: ‘Genetic
CherrySeRB strategy will provide novel cherry material to be used in potential of Serbian autochthonous cherry genotypes for temperature-adaptable reproductive
behaviour and nutraceutical value’ (CherrySeRB), and Ministry of Science, Technological Development
future breeding programs and will serve as proof of concept applicable to and Innovations of the RS (contract No. 451-03-47/2023-01/200215).
other fruit species of economic interest.