Pear genetics: Recent advances, new prospects, and a roadmap for the future
Jiaming Li1,† , Mingyue Zhang2,† , Xiaolong Li1,† , Awais Khan3 , Satish Kumar4 , Andrew Charles Allan5 , Kui Lin-Wang5 , Richard Victor Espley5 , Caihong Wang6 , Runze Wang1 , Cheng Xue2 , Gaifang Yao7 , Mengfan Qin1 , Manyi Sun1 , Richard Tegtmeier3 , Hainan Liu1 , Weilin Wei1 , Meiling Ming1 , Shaoling Zhang1 , Kejiao Zhao1 , Bobo Song1 , Jiangping Ni1 , Jianping An2 , Schuyler S. Korban8, and Jun Wu,1,
1Center of Pear Engineering Technology Research, State Key Laboratory of Crop Genetics and Germplasm Enhancement, Nanjing Agricultural University, Nanjing 210095, China 2State Key Laboratory of Crop Biology, College of Horticulture Science and Engineering, Shandong Agricultural University, Tai-An, Shandong 271018, China 3Plant Pathology & Plant-Microbe Biology Section, Cornell University, Geneva, NY 14456, USA 4Hawke’s Bay Research Centre, The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Havelock North 4157, New Zealand 5The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Auckland 1142, New Zealand 6College of Horticulture, Qingdao Agricultural University, Qingdao, 266109, China 7School of Food and Biological Engineering, Hefei University of Technology, 230009 Hefei, China 8Department of Natural Resources & Environmental Sciences, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, IL 61801, USA *Corresponding author. E-mail: korban@illinois.edu,wujun@njau.edu.cn †Jiaming Li,Mingyue Zhang and Xiaolong Li contributed equally to the study.
Received: 29 Apr 2021 Revised: 23 Aug 2021 Accepted: 25 Aug 2021 Published online: 05 Jan 2022
Abstract
Pear, belonging to the genus Pyrus, is one of the most economically important temperate fruit crops. Pyrus is an important genus of the Rosaceae family, subfamily Maloideae, and has at least 22 different species with over 5000 accessions maintained or identified worldwide. With the release of draft whole-genome sequences for Pyrus, opportunities for pursuing studies on the evolution, domestication, and molecular breeding of pear, as well as for conducting comparative genomics analyses within the Rosaceae family, have been greatly expanded. In this review, we highlight key advances in pear genetics, genomics, and breeding driven by the availability of whole-genome sequences, including whole-genome resequencing efforts, pear domestication, and evolution. We cover updates on new resources for undertaking gene identification and molecular breeding, as well as for pursuing functional validation of genes associated with desirable economic traits. We also explore future directions for “pear-omics”.
and Jun Wu,1 ,
