Validation Assay of p3_VvAGL11 Marker in a Wide Range of Genetic Background for Early Selection of Stenospermocarpy in Vitis vinifera L

DNA markers technology, derived from research in molecular biology and genomics, offers great promise for plant breeding, allowing the “molecular breeding” via marker-assisted selection. Grapevine genomic resources allowed, in recent years, the characterization at molecular level of genes involved in interesting phenotypes such as stenospermocarpic seedlessness, a trait really appreciated by consumers. Recent studies in table grapes revealed that the VvAGL11 gene, member of the D-lineage MADS-box family, controls the ovule identity, and thus potentially playing an important role in stenospermocarpy. Intragenic markers of VvAGL11 have been found and tested for breeding purposes. In the present paper, we describe an in deep assay on a total of 475 genotypes derived by our own grape germplasm and seeded × seedless crosses F₁ offspring, to evaluate and verify the “diagnostic” power of VvAGL11 in marker-assisted selection. We found only 8/475 that were seeded and carried the seedless-associated allele in the STS p3_VvAGL11. However, and most importantly, there were no seedless varieties without such allele. We validated the marker as a 100 % effective tool for early negative selection of stenospermocarpy in Vitis vinifera L. crosses.