Fire blight (FB), caused by Erwinia amylovora, is one of the most important pome fruit pathogens worldwide. To control this devastating disease, various chemical and biological treatments are commonly applied in Switzerland, but they fail to keep the infection at an acceptable level in years of heavy disease pressure. The Swiss authorities therefore currently allow the controlled use of the ant...

UV light provoked stress can evoke antioxidant defence system and consequently induces the synthesis of several phytochemical compounds. Th e aim of the present study was to investigate the infl uence of UV-B light irradiation on surface colour and synthesis of some bioactive compounds in apples skin of cultivars ‘Elstar’ and ‘Jonagold’. Half of each apple was shaded with aluminium foil to comp...

Gene flow is an essential component of population adaptation and species evolution. Understanding of the natural and anthropogenic factors affecting gene flow is also critical for the development of appropriate management, breeding, and conservation programs. Here, we explored the natural and anthropogenic factors impacting crop-to-wild and within wild gene flow in apples in Europe using an unp...

ABSTRACT Apple replant disease typically is managed through pre-plant application of broad-spectrum soil fumigants including methyl bromide. The impending loss or restricted use of soil fumigants and the needs of an expanding organic tree fruit industry necessitate the development of alternative control measures. The microbial community resident in a wheat field soil was shown to suppress compo...

Fire blight, caused by Erwinia amylovora (Ea), is a destructive disease of Malus (apple), Pyrus (pear) and some woody ornamentals in the rose family (Rosaceae). The goal of this project is to use a functional genomics approach to develop tools to breed fire blight resistant apples. Suppression subtractive hybridization (SSH) and cDNA-AFLP analysis were used to identify 650 expressed sequence ta...

The number of local and traditional fruit cultivars in Andalusia (Southern Spain) has decreased dramatically since the 1970s when new commercial cultivars from breeding programs were introduced, replacing old varieties, and thus decreasing genetic diversity. The present study was included in a genetic resources project with the objective of identifying and preserving traditional fruit tree cult...

Many biotic and abiotic parameters affect the metabolites involved in the organoleptic and health value of fruits. It is therefore important to understand how the growers' decisions for cultivar and orchard management can affect the fruit composition. Practices, cultivars and/or year all might participate to determine fruit composition. To hierarchize these factors, fruit weight, dry matter, so...

Synthetic melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine, MT) is popular in the US and Asian markets as a health supplement. Here, we identified a naturally occurring melatonin source in apple juice. Melatonin was present in all 18 apple cultivars tested. The highest melatonin level of the edible part of apple was detected in the apple peel. The melatonin content in 'Fuji' apple juice is comparable to...