A MADS-box gene-induced early flowering pear ( L.) for accelerated pear breeding.

There have been a considerable number of studies that have successfully sped up the flowering cycle in woody perennial horticultural species. One particularly successful study in apple () accelerated flowering using a silver birch () MADS-box gene hich yielded a good balance of vegetative growth to support subsequent flower and fruit development. In this study, was constitutively expressed in European pear () to establish whether this could be used as a tool in a rapid pear breeding program.

A manually annotated Actinidia chinensis var. chinensis (kiwifruit) genome highlights the challenges associated with draft genomes and gene prediction in plants.

Background: Most published genome sequences are drafts, and most are dominated by computational gene prediction. Draft genomes typically incorporate considerable sequence data that are not assigned to chromosomes, and predicted genes without quality confidence measures. The current Actinidia chinensis (kiwifruit) 'Hongyang' draft genome has 164 Mb of sequences unassigned to pseudo-chromosomes, and omissions have been identified in the gene models.

Apple EIN3 BINDING F-box 1 inhibits the activity of three apple EIN3-like transcription factors.

Background And Aims: Fruit ripening in Malus× domestica (apple) is controlled by ethylene. Work in model species has shown that following the detection of ethylene, the ETHYLENE INSENSITIVE 3 (EIN3) transcription factor is stabilized, leading to an increase in transcript accumulation of ethylene-responsive genes, such as POLYGALACTURONASE1 (PG1). In the absence of ethylene, the EIN3 BINDING F-box (EBF) proteins rapidly degrade EIN3 via the ubiquitination/SCF (Skp, Cullin, F-Box) proteasome pathway.

Identification and characterization of flowering genes in kiwifruit: sequence conservation and role in kiwifruit flower development.

Background: Flower development in kiwifruit (Actinidia spp.) is initiated in the first growing season, when undifferentiated primordia are established in latent shoot buds. These primordia can differentiate into flowers in the second growing season, after the winter dormancy period and upon accumulation of adequate winter chilling.