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Volume 14
Issue 23
10.3390/plants14233674
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Article

Inheritance of Calyx Abscission in Apple: A Trait with Potential Impact on Fruit Rot Susceptibility

by
Matthias Pfeifer
1,2,
Andreas Peil
1,
Henryk Flachowsky
1 and
Thomas Wöhner
1,*
1
Julius Kühn-Institut (JKI)—Federal Research Centre for Cultivated Plants, Institute for Breeding Research on Fruit Crops, 01326 Dresden-Pillnitz, Germany
2
Institute of Plant Genetics, Department of Molecular Plant Breeding, Leibniz University Hannover, 30419 Hannover, Germany
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Plants 2025, 14(23), 3674; https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14233674 (registering DOI)
Submission received: 3 November 2025 / Revised: 21 November 2025 / Accepted: 1 December 2025 / Published: 2 December 2025
(This article belongs to the Section Horticultural Science and Ornamental Plants)
Versions Notes

Abstract

Fruit rots, both pre- and postharvest, represent a major problem in apple production, leading to significant yield losses each year. In this study, the inheritance of calyx abscission, a trait that could potentially reduce susceptibility to various fruit rots, was investigated in an F1 population. Calyx persistence rates were phenotyped in the field in 2023 and 2025 on 122 offspring derived from a cross between ‘Idared’ and Malus baccata ‘Jackii’, the latter exhibiting complete calyx abscission. QTL analyses were conducted using genotypic data and a genetic linkage map generated in a previous study. Results show, for the first time in apple, that calyx abscission is a heritable trait influenced by multiple loci, with the strongest effects detected on linkage groups 5 and 13. Whether calyx abscission is linked to reduced susceptibility to fruit rots, and for which pathogens this applies, remains to be investigated in future studies.
Keywords: apple; calyx abscission; inheritance; fruit rot susceptibility; wild Malus species; disease resistance; QTL analysis apple; calyx abscission; inheritance; fruit rot susceptibility; wild Malus species; disease resistance; QTL analysis

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MDPI and ACS Style

Pfeifer, M.; Peil, A.; Flachowsky, H.; Wöhner, T. Inheritance of Calyx Abscission in Apple: A Trait with Potential Impact on Fruit Rot Susceptibility. Plants 2025, 14, 3674. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14233674

AMA Style

Pfeifer M, Peil A, Flachowsky H, Wöhner T. Inheritance of Calyx Abscission in Apple: A Trait with Potential Impact on Fruit Rot Susceptibility. Plants. 2025; 14(23):3674. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14233674

Chicago/Turabian Style

Pfeifer, Matthias, Andreas Peil, Henryk Flachowsky, and Thomas Wöhner. 2025. "Inheritance of Calyx Abscission in Apple: A Trait with Potential Impact on Fruit Rot Susceptibility" Plants 14, no. 23: 3674. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14233674

APA Style

Pfeifer, M., Peil, A., Flachowsky, H., & Wöhner, T. (2025). Inheritance of Calyx Abscission in Apple: A Trait with Potential Impact on Fruit Rot Susceptibility. Plants, 14(23), 3674. https://doi.org/10.3390/plants14233674

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