TECHNOLOGIES FOR MANIPULATING QUALITY AND PRODUCTIVITY TRAITS IN HORTICULTURAL CROPS

Horticultural crops are recognized as an important resource of phytonutrients essential for a balanced diet and for disease prevention.
Enhancing fruit quality is key to the delivery of these vital health enhancing phytonutrients.
A major challenge is to characterize the network of genes that determine fruit quality and productivity.
Expression of these genes occurs in fruit, a component of which determines various quality traits (color, flavor, texture, phytonutrients etc). Genome sequencing projects have dramatically altered the approach to dissect complex gene networks like those that govern quality.
New tools such as, EST database development, proteomics and expression profiling can be used to create unique database resources to study/identify genes that determine fruit quality.
The expression of thousands of genes can be rapidly profiled in fruit at any developmental time point using microarray technology (the biological version of parallel processing). This can facilitate quality control, validate production and help dissect physiological processes in fruit tissues.
Unique fruit quality specific mRNA can be sequenced (EST) and mapped to define their chromosomal location as well as to facilitate progeny screening in a breeding program.
ESTs that represent closely related gene families could be used to define their function and to detect single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). Microarrays can be developed to study expression and to detect SNP variation useful for rapid cultivar/progeny identification.
Plant transformation methods and enhanced gene silencing technology can then be effectively used to evaluate and authenticate newly discovered endogenous genes to characterize their function in fruit as well as to genetically manipulate fruit quality and productivity.