A MADS-box gene-induced early flowering pear ( L.) for accelerated pear breeding.

There have been a considerable number of studies that have successfully sped up the flowering cycle in woody perennial horticultural species. One particularly successful study in apple () accelerated flowering using a silver birch () MADS-box gene hich yielded a good balance of vegetative growth to support subsequent flower and fruit development. In this study, was constitutively expressed in European pear () to establish whether this could be used as a tool in a rapid pear breeding program. Transformed pear lines flowered within 6-18 months after grafting onto a quince () rootstock. Unlike the spindly habit of early flowering apples, the early flowering pear lines displayed a normal tree-like habit. Like apple, the flower appearance was normal, and the flowers were fertile, producing fruit and seed upon pollination. Seed from these transformed lines were germinated and 50% of the progeny flowered within 3 months of sowing, demonstrating a use for these in a fast breeding program.