Multiple Avenues to Gender in Strawberries

Common strawberry cultivars are hermaphrodites, producing both anthers and pistils in their flowers. However, octoploid Fragaria species are trioecious and different genotypes can be female with pistillate flowers, hermaphrodites, or males with staminate flowers. One female selection, F. virginiana High Falls 22 and three hermaphrodite selections, N8688, RH23, and Montreal River 10 were hybridized with five June-bearing cultivars. Seedlings of each family were planted in Ontario and Michigan. Two F. chiloensis selections Pigeon Point (female) and FRA1267 (hermaphrodite), were hybridized with 14 F. virginiana selections. Seedlings from each family were planted in Ontario and Minnesota. In all progeny, the presence or absence of anthers was recorded and a subjective scale used to estimate the percentage of fruit set (1–10 representing 10% intervals). Also, FRA1267 was crossed with one F. × ananassa selection and the progeny intercrossed and grown in Ontario. In the sib-crosses gender was recorded. In two female parents, the female progeny had on average a higher fruit set than the hermaphrodite progeny. F. virginiana genotypes varied in their fruit set, which suggested that there are a number of alleles involved in the fertility of hermaphrodites. In crosses, FRA1267 produced 80% females when used as a female parent and 100% hermaphrodites when used as a male parent. It is thought that the trait is inherited cytoplasmically or that the F. chiloensis alleles involved are epistatic when F. virginiana or F. × ananassa is used as a male parent.