Ben J.L. Zhong

Hainan Institute of Tropical Agricultural Resources, Sanya, 572024, China
Author    Correspondence author
International Journal of Horticulture, 2024, Vol. 14, No. 2   doi: 10.5376/ijh.2024.14.0009
Received: 05 Mar., 2024    Accepted: 06 Apr., 2024    Published: 19 Apr., 2024

This is an open access article published under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Zhong B.J.L., 2024, The fruit revolution in the genomic era: unveiling the journey of strawberry genetic improvement, International Journal of Horticulture, 14(2): 78-88 (doi: 10.5376/ijh.2024.14.0009)

On March 19, 2024, research results from the Department of Plant Sciences at the University of California, Davis, were published in the journal Nature Communications. Mitchell J. Feldmann is the first author, and Steven J. Knapp is the corresponding author, with the paper titled "Genetic gains underpinning a little-known strawberry Green Revolution." This research was funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's National Institute of Food and Agriculture (NIFA) Specialty Crop Research Initiative (#2017-51181-26833; #2022-51181-38328). The study highlights the genetic basis for the significant increase in strawberry yields in the United States and globally since 1960, particularly through breeding achievements of the Green Revolution. The increase in strawberry yields is attributed to genetic improvements and advancements in cultivation techniques, including the introduction of "perpetual flowering" hybrid varieties that are not influenced by photoperiod, a breakthrough achieved in the 1970s that doubled strawberry production in California.

Fruit revolution; Strawberry; Genetic improvement