Origin and dissemination of the pollen‐part mutated <i>S</i>_C haplotype which confers self‐compatibility in apricot (<i>Prunus armeniaca</i>)

• In China, its centre of origin, apricot (Prunus armeniaca) is self-incompatible. However, most European cultivars are self-compatible. In most cases, self-compatibility is a result of a loss-of-function mutation within the pollen gene (SFB) in the SC haplotype. Controlled pollinations performed in this work revealed that the cross 'Ceglédi óriás' (S8S9) × 'Ceglédi arany' (SCS9) set well, as expected, but the reciprocal cross did not. • Apricot S8, S9 and SC haplotypes were analysed using a multilevel approach including fruit set evaluation, pollen tube growth analysis, RNase activity assays, polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis and DNA sequencing of the S-RNase and SFB alleles. • SFB 8 was revealed to be the first known progenitor allele of a naturally occurring self-compatibility allele in Prunus, and consequently SC = . The first intron of SC-RNase is a phase one intron, indicating its more recent evolutionary origin compared with the second intron. Sequence analysis of different cultivars revealed that more single nucleotide polymorphisms accumulated in SC-RNase than in SFBC. New methods were designed to allow high-throughput analysis of S genotypes of apricot cultivars and selections. • S-RNase sequence data from various sources helped to elucidate the putative origin and dissemination of self-compatibility in apricot conferred by the SC haplotype.