The development of apple and tomato fruit, from anthesis to mature fruit differs in length, however we compared patterns of expression during similar phases of development, in particular the mid development phase when cells are expanding in both apple and tomato (~8 35 DAA in tomato and ~40 110 DAA in apple) and the ripening phase (~40 50 DAA in tomato and ~130 150 DAA in apple).
Apart from pectic-related changes, xyloglucan and enzymes such as xyloglucan endotransglucosylase/hydrolase (XTH) also play important roles in the development of apple fruit texture and softening [ 8, 25].
The lower three maps of Figure 6 show, by example of one (HADCM3/CLM) of the four climate models considered, the projected future phenological development of apple bloom in Hesse for the future periods 2031 to 2060 and 2071 to 2100 as well as for the reference period 1971 to 2000.
Apple researchers have used Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS) technologies to detect SNPs across the genome, enabling the development of apple SNP arrays used for genomic selection in apple breeding programs and for fine trait mapping [ 17– 17].
The development of apple fruit involves an early period of cell division that lasts for approximately 30 days after pollination [ 17, 18].
The overexpression of genes related to flavonoid accumulation can be explained as the effort of affected tissues to balance out the oxidative stress synthetizing compounds with antioxidative properties, as already reported during the development of apple superficial scald [ 39].
In this work the change in the polyphenolic cascade was examined during the development of apple scald using a candidate gene qRT-PCR approach, together with targeted metabolic profiling.
Tissues from all three groups of apples were taken to cover the initiation and development of the disorder in a tissue-specific manner.
This analysis of gene expression lays the groundwork for a molecular understanding of fruit growth and development in apple.
A similar number of genes (102) differentially expressed over the course of fruit development of both apple and tomato was reported by Janssen et al. [ 23], however, only 20% of these genes were identified in this study so that a new and larger collection of highly homologous ripening-associated genes is available from tomato and apple.
