The main morphological and genetic characterization of seven introduced almond cultivars in Bosnia & Herzegovina was conducted. The almond cultivars included three from Italy (Tuono, Genco, Supernova), two from France (Ferragnes and Ferraduel), and two from the USA (Texas and Nonpareil). Genetic characterization was utilized by using 10 microsatellite markers, with nine markers from Prunus persicae and one from Prunus armeniaca. The results of genetic characterization revealed an average of 5.40 alleles per primer per locus. The average number of effective alleles for the 10 SSR loci of introduced cultivars was 3.92. The Shannon Information Index averaged 1.41. The observed heterozygosity (Ho) and expected heterozygosity (He) averaged 0.53 and 0.69, respectively. Morphological analyses of the fruit of introduced almond cultivars in Bosnia & Herzegovina indicated favorable agroecological conditions for their cultivation and spread. The results suggest that these introduced almond cultivars could be utilized in breeding programs to enhance the genetic diversity of the local almond population in Bosnia & Herzegovina.

Apple accessions, currently maintained within the two main ex situ collections in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H), have previously been genotyped using microsatellite markers. The obtained molecular data provided insight into mislabeled accessions and redundancies, as well as the overall genetic structure of the germplasm. The available dataset enabled the creation of a core collection consisting of 52 accessions. The reliability and usefulness of microsatellites has made this low-density marker system a norm in studies on apple germplasm. However, the increased access to medium- and high-density SNP arrays, developed specifically for apples, has opened new avenues of research into apple genetic resources. In this study, 45 apple genotypes consisting of 33 diploid core collection accessions from B&H and 12 international reference cultivars were genotyped using an Axiom® Apple 480 K SNP array in order to examine their genetic relationships, population structure and diversity, as well as to compare the obtained results with those calculated on previously reported SSR profiles. The SNPs displayed a better ability to differentiate apple accessions based on their origin, as well as to cluster them according to their pedigree. Calculating identity by descent revealed 16 pairings with first-degree relationships and uncovered the introgression of ‘Delicious’ and ‘Golden Delicious’ into the core collection.

This study was conducted with the aim of developing fruit spirits by utilizing old (autochthonous) apple and pear cultivars that can be attractive to both consumers and producers. Consumers of spirits could enjoy the unique flavor, and producers could gain an opportunity for brand development. In total, eight old apple cultivars (Sarija, Žuja, Samoniklica, Prijedorska zelenika, Bobovec, Masnjača, Lijepocvjetka, and Šarenika) and three pear cultivars (Budaljača, Krakača, and Kalićanka) from Bosnia and Herzegovina were used for the spirits production and for characterizing the flavor of distillates. Golden Delicious was used as a representative of commercial apple cultivar. The aroma profile was conducted through the identification of minor volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and the sensory perception of spirits. Analysis of the VOCs was performed by gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GC/MS) techniques after enrichment via solid-phase microextraction (SPME). Sensory evaluation was performed by 12 trained panelists. Overall, 35 minor volatile compounds were found in spirits: 13 esters, 7 alcohols, 6 acids, 5 terpenes, and 4 aldehydes. Significant differences were detected in the distribution and quantity of the VOCs, which were fruit cultivar-dependent. Spirits made from Šarenika apple cultivar showed the largest amount of all acids, especially short- and medium-chain fatty acids; however, this richness was not correlated with pleasant sensory attributes. Spirits obtained from Prijedorska zelenika and Masnjača apple cultivars had the best sensory attributes. Budeljača and Krakača pears are promising cultivars as flavoring in spirits production.

Jasna HASANBEGOVIC*, Semina HADZIABULIC, Mirsad KURTOVIC, Fuad GASI, Biljana LAZOVIC, Boris DORBIC, Azra SKENDER Department of Agriculture, Agromediterranean Faculty, Dzemal Bijedic University of Mostar, Mostar, Bosnia and Herzegovina Department of Agriculture, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, University of Sarajevo, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina Department of Agriculture, Biotechnical Faculty Podgorica, Center for Subtropical Cultures Bar, University of Montenegro, Montenegro Department of Agriculture karst, Mrko Marulic, Polytechnic of Knin, Knin, Croatia Department of Agriculture, Biotechnical Faculty, University of Bihac, Bihac, Bosnia and Herzegovina

: The main objective of this study was to examine the characteristics and the relationship between walnuts in the Una-Sana Canton based on phenotypic properties. This is the first study of preselection of walnut variability in this area. In this study, we evaluated the phenological and morphological characteristics of 75 selected genotypes during 2014 and 2015. Twenty-four phenotypic traits were monitored throughout 2 years on different sites. The results of the PCA analysis showed a very high heterogeneity of walnut seedlings on the examined sites, from the aspect of observed parameters. A limited number of superior genotypes were found, but individual genotypes with high nut and kernel weight, as well as the colour of the kernel were determined, which would classify them as high-ranked parents in hybridization programs. Certain number of genotypes with high values of traits such as: nut weight, kernel weight and a high percentage of kernel were selected for future studies. Amongst the selected trees, genotype G25 had the highest weight of nuts and kernel, as well as a satisfactory color of the kernel. This genotype could be used as a superior tree for further breeding programs in the future. A highlevel of phenotypic variability in this studyrevealed the existence of a rich genetics pool of nuts variation. The genetic diversity of walnuts obtained from our studies will represent a valuable source of information for breeding programs of Persian walnut in future.

Three commercial apple cultivars ('Jonagold', 'Granny Smith' and 'Idared') and the local apple cultivar ('Prijedorska Zelenika') from Bosnia and Herzegovina were analysed by HPLC-MS for the content of phenolic compounds in peel and pulp as well content of individual sugars and organic acids. Catechin, (-)-epicatechin, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, quercetin 3-O-xyloside, quercetin 3-O-arabinoside, quercetin 3-O-rhamnoside, quercetin 3-O-rutinoside, quercetin 3-O-galactoside and quercetin 3-O-glucoside were identified in apple peel and (-)-epicatechin, chlorogenic acid and caffeic acid in apple pulp at all observed cultivars. The total sugars content of analysed apple cultivars ranged between 91.61 and 105.45 g kg-1 FM, while the total organic acids content was from 5.70 to 15.05 g kg-1 FM. The levels of total organic acids and sugars, glucoce/fructose ratio and sugar/acid ratio were affected by cultivars. The mean content of total phenolic compounds was between 427.92 and 1457.95 mg kg-1 FM in peel and from 113.58 to 439.83 mg kg-1 FM in pulp and depending upon the cultivars. The presented data clearly demonstrated that traditional apple cultivar ('Prijedorska Zelenika') had significantly higher individual phenolic compounds in pulp in comparison to the commercial cultivars, i.e., 'Idared', 'Jonagold' and 'Granny Smith' and with respect of that 'Prijedorska Zelenika' is recommended as raw material for cloudy juice processing.

Some physicochemical characteristics of black and white mulberry genotypes from and Herzegovina.-Genetika, Vol 51, No.3, Recently, Therefore, the focus of this research is to determine some physicochemical properties of mulberry fruits from the area of northwest Bosnia, where significant amount genetic resources of mulberries are available. In total, six genotypes of black and eight genotypes of white mulberries were analyzed. From physical properties, the fruit mass, fruit height, fruit width and length were determined. Black mulberries are found richer than white mulberries for most of the searched parameters. The average water, soluble solids, total acidity, total sugar, ash, vitamin C, total phenol and total anthocyanin of black mulberry genotypes were 86.46%, 14.88%, 0.08%, 7.30%, 0.68%, 45.84 mg/100 g FW (fresh weight), 50.67 mg GAE/100 g FW and 562.42 cyanidin-3-glucoside mg/g. These values were 82.49%, 17.51%, 0.09%, 7.34%, 0.78%, 43.79 mg/100 g FW and 29.49 mg GAE/100 g FW for white mulberries. The obtained results can serve for future steps in the breeding of these species, and because of the high quality fruit characteristics, they can affect the conservation of these species due to the increasing genetic erosion of this species. PC3 PC4

In order to assess the genetic purity of common buckwheat variety ‘Darja’ which is the most commonly produced variety of this crop in Bosnia and Herzegovina, 10 SSR markers have been used. Five samples have been collected from different production regions in B&H (Breza, Nisici Plateau, Ustikolina, Bihac and Bosanska Krupa) and compared to the reference ‘Darja’ sample obtained from an ex situ seed collection from Slovenia. Seven out of ten primer pairs used managed to amplify SSR alleles. Analyses of molecular variance (AMOVA) showed a significant differentiation between the reference and all analyzed ‘Darja’ samples. Furthermore, the factorial correspondence analysis revealed a clear differentiation between the reference and ‘Darja’ samples from the most known production regions of common buckwheat in B&H clustering four out of five analyzed samples very close together. The most divergent one among the analyzed samples was the one from Ustikolina. Genetic purity of varieties of all of cross pollinated species produced in Bosnia and Herzegovina is questionable due to the general use of farm-saved seeds.

Black chokeberry (Aronia melanocarpa Elliot) is a deciduous fruit shrub from Rosaceae family that does not have a long cultivating tradition in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Therefore, the aim of this research was to determine the effect of variety, quantity and combination of fertilizers on characteristics of vegetative growth, yield and fruit quality of black chokeberry of Nero cultivar, in agro - ecological conditions of the Una – Sana Canton (Bosnia and Herzegovina). The experimental site fertilized with the combination of mineral and organic nitrate fertilizers gave the best results in morphometric characteristics of fruit, yield and vegetative characteristics of growth. Fruits from the control site had the highest values when it comes to the most of the following characteristics: dry matter content, ash, total acidity, vitamin C and total phenolic content. Statistical analyses showed that factors of quantity and the manner of fertilization influence significantly most of examined parameters in this research (P ≤ 0.05).

‘Ingeborg’ is currently the main commercial pear cultivar grown in Norway. However, fruit set and subsequent yields of this cultivar have proven to be variable and overall low averaging 10–20 t·ha. Pear seeds found in ‘Ingeborg’ fruits are often underdeveloped, suggesting that incomplete fertilization might be a major cause of poor fruit set. In some years, sporadically unfavorable environmental conditions during and immediately after pollination inHardanger district, westernNorway, have resulted in poor fruit set of ‘Ingeborg’. In this study, the pollinizer efficacy of several pollinizers, namely ‘Clara Frijs’, ‘Herzogin Elsa’, ‘Anna’, ‘Color ee de Juillet’, and ‘Belle lucrative’, from several orchards located in the Hardanger district was investigated using 12 microsatellite markers for two growing seasons (2014 and 2016). Pollinizer efficacy was estimated by genotyping ‘Ingeborg’, each individual pollinizer, as well as normally developed seeds from ‘Ingeborg’ fruit, and conducting gene assignment analyses to identify the pollen contribution from each of the pollinizer cultivars. In addition, S-allele genotyping was conducted, and only one pollinizer, ‘Anna’, was identified as being semicompatible with ‘Ingeborg’, whereas all other pollinizers were fully compatible. ‘Clara Frijs’ and ‘Belle lucrative’ were identified as the most efficient pollinizers probably because these cultivars were abundant compared with all other pollinizers within all, but one of the examined orchards. Higher yields could not be attributed to a particular pollinizer, and genetic effects associated with the triploid nature of ‘Ingeborg’ are most likely implicated as a cause behind the low and variable yield of this cultivar. BP 10273 pear (‘Conference’ · ‘Bonne Louise’) was bred at SLU Balsg ard (Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences), and after evaluation in Western Norway, it was named ‘Ingeborg’ in 1994 (Hjeltnes and Ystaas, 1993). This cultivar has become the most widely planted commercial pear variety grown in Norway, including the Hardanger district, western Norway. ‘Ingeborg’ is a triploid (3x) and is believed to be the result of fertilization of an unreduced diploid (2n) egg cell from ‘Conference’ with a haploid (n) pollen cell from ‘Bonne Louise’ (Sehic et al., 2012). Although ‘Ingeborg’ possesses good pomological traits that are highly desirable to Norwegians, fruit set and subsequent yields of this cultivar tend to be erratic and significantly lower than other pear varieties grown in Norway (Meland and Frøynes, 2014). Yields vary significantly between different orchards in the Hardanger region within any one growing season and parthenocarpy may play a role. Seeds extracted from ‘Ingeborg’ fruits are frequently underdeveloped. Triploids typically have low fertility due to a reproductive barrier whereby three sets of chromosomes cannot be divided evenly during meiosis yielding unbalanced segregation of chromosomes (Phillips et al., 2016). Triploids are typically highly infertile; however, limited fertility and seed production can result from the formation of apomictic embryos or through the union of aneuploid or unreduced gametes (Ramsey and Schemske, 1998). It should be noted that pears, which are auto-incompatible, may have seeds even if they are self-pollinated. Ny eki et al. (1998) found that even during self-pollination, pears can bear fruits, which are a) entirely seedless (parthenocarpic), or b) the seeds were empty or flat without any viable germination, or c) some viable seeds developed at a low rate (0.5% to 2%) in addition to empty seeds. Incompletely formed seeds, low seed number per fruit, or both have reduced sink strength (Weinbaum et al., 2001), which results in lower fruit weight and decreased yields. Self-fertilization in European pears (Pyrus communis L.), similar to other fruit species of the Rosaceae family, is prevented by gametophytic self-incompatibility (Crane and Lewis, 1942). Consequently, interplanting of suitable pollinizer genotypes in pear orchards is essential for fertilization of the ovules, which in itself is necessary for a successful set of an optimum crop load (Webster, 2002). Identifying cross-compatible pear cultivars is traditionally accomplished with testcrosses and more recently using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) based S-genotyping (Mota et al., 2007; Quinet et al., 2014; Sanzol, 2009). However, planting cross-compatible pollinizers, which have coincidental flowering time overlap with the main commercial cultivar, does not always guarantee consistently high yields. In addition, environmental variables, such as rainfall, temperature, and cloud cover, may also negatively affect pollinators and the effective pollination period (EPP) (Sanzol and Herrero, 2001). EPP is defined as the difference between the ovule longevity minus the time between pollination and fertilization (Williams, 1965). Because of generally unfavorable environmental conditions for pear pollination during the Nordic spring, ‘Ingeborg’ orchards have been established using multiple pollinizer cultivars. Despite this, yields are often low and erratic in some ‘Ingeborg’ orchards in Hardanger, Norway, and this requires further investigation to identifywhich of the pollinizers is the most effective, both in high and poor yielding orchards. Determining pollen compatibility of individual pollinizers may be accomplished by 1722 HORTSCIENCE VOL. 52(12) DECEMBER 2017 genotyping progeny plants produced by germinating seeds extracted from pear fruits of the main commercial cultivar and using the obtained molecular data to identify the male parent. However, the occurrence of aneuploid seedlings with poor viability, frequent among triploids (Zhang and Park, 2009) such as ‘Ingeborg’, makes the above procedure impractical. Consequently, genetic analyses should be performed on the pear seeds themselves instead of the progeny plants. The seedlings that are produced from seeds will be primarily aneuploids because of unbalanced chromosome segregation in meiosis (Brownfield and Kohler, 2011) with poor viability due to the triploid nature of ‘Ingeborg’. However, limited number of progeny frommaternal triploids could also be diploids (generational reversion) and tetraploids (fertilization from unreduced gametes from one or both parents) (Phillips et al., 2016). Microsatellite markers or simple sequence repeats (SSRs) have proven efficient in parent-offspring analyses on pear (Kimura et al., 2003). Although a comparative study has shown that the identification of a highly informative set of single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) from a large panel showed significantly more accurate individual genetic assignment compared with the combination of SSR loci (Glover et al., 2010), Moore et al. (2014) found that microsatellite markers are accurate genetic markers for genetic assignment, especially in combination with informative SNPs. In the case of plant parentage, pollination and dispersal analyses, and microsatellites with their various limitations remain an important genetic marker (Ashley, 2010). In addition, there are several readily available microsatellite markers at present, developed from either apple (Gianfranceschi et al., 1998; Liebhard et al., 2002) or pear (Fern andezFern andez et al., 2006), that can be used in the genetic analyses of European pear genotypes. In this study, pollination efficacy of several commonly used ‘Ingeborg’ pollinizers in the Hardanger region was investigated using microsatellite markers. To examine the causes of fertilization between Ingeborg vs. all pollinizer cultivars, molecular analyses of S alleles were performed. Materials and Methods The environmental conditions in Ullensvang, a municipality of Hardanger, Norway’s biggest fruit producing region, during flowering were conducive to pollination of ‘Ingeborg’ in 2014 and 2016 (Table 1). Because of the unfavorable climatic conditions in 2015 [low minimum temperatures (<7.3 C) and prolonged heavy rainfall during bloom] that contributed to the low fruit set and insufficient even for research sampling, this year was excluded. Dates of first bloom (BBCH 60), full bloom (80% of blossoms open), and petal fall (80%) (Jackson and Looney, 1999) for ‘Ingeborg’ in six commercial orchards as well as for five pollinizer cultivars during 2014 and 2016 are presented in Table 2, confirming that there was sufficient overlap between all pollinizers and ‘Ingeborg’ in both 2014 and 2016. At harvest, 50 randomly sampled ‘Ingeborg’ fruit were gathered from each of the six commercial orchards. Fruits were cut open and all pear seedswere extracted. Orchard size, yield, and age of the six different orchards are presented in Table 3. Pear producers did not provide beehives for pollination, but neighboring farms that are growing cherries and plums are renting beehives for pollination. The distance between some pear orchards and these beehives was 100 m and more. Molecular and phenology analyses. Tissue samples (leaves) for DNA analyses were collected in the Spring of 2014 from a single tree of the main commercial cultivar (Ingeborg) and from pollinizer genotypes (‘Clara Frijs’, ‘Herzogin Elsa’, ‘Anna’, ‘Color ee de Juillet’, and ‘Belle lucrative’) present in the analyzed orchards. The genomic DNA was isolated from 70 to 80 mg of leaf powder using the CTAB method (Cullings, 1992; Doyle and Doyle, 1987). Extraction and isolation of genomic DNA from pear seeds were conducted according to Padmalatha et al. (2008). As it was impossible to obtain enough high-quality DNA from a single seed for the genetic characterization, well developed seeds collected from each individual orchard were mixed and ground together to obtain a single homogenous sample. Twelve SSR primer pairs (Table 4) were chosen based on their polymorphism observed in a previous study on European pears (Gasi et al., 2013). All PCR reactions were carried out in accordance with the protocol described by Gasi et al. (2013

Raspberry cultivars are clonally propagated and therefore all plants belonging to a single cultivar represent the same genotype. Cultivar integrity of raspberry plantlings placed on the market in Bosnia and Herzegovina (B&H) is based on examining of morphological traits, which is not a reliable tool for genetic identification. In this study plantlings declared as cultivar ‘Polana’ were genotyped using seven microsatellites, in order to gain preliminary insight into the genetic integrity of raspberry plantlings marketed in B&H. Plant tissue (leaves) from 10 raspberry plants were randomly sampled from a batch of plantlings sold by major fruit nursery in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Along with these samples, four reference cultivars with confirmed identity (‘Polka’, ‘Autumn Bliss’, ‘Heritage’ and ‘Polana’) were also included in the study. Seven primer pairs amplified 31 alleles, or on average 4.4 alleles per locus. UPGMA cluster analysis, based on the Jaccard similarity coefficient, revealed that among the ten samples declared as ‘Polana’ plantlings only five were genetically identical to any of the other samples. The cluster analyses also exposed that none of the ten samples declared as ‘Polana’ seedlings were in fact identical or even closely related to the ‘Polana’ reference cultivar or any of the other reference cultivars. These findings clearly show that the genetic identity of primocane raspberry plantlings , currently sold in Bosnia and Herzegovina, needs to be tested using objective and reliable methods rather than simple morphologic observation.