Molecular Responses to Cold Stress in Temperate Fruit Crops with Focus on Rosaceae Family

Abstract

Cold stress is considered as one of the main limiting environmental factors causing a significant loss in the production of fruit crops. Although many fruit crops require chilling during winter to develop fruiting buds, late winter, and early spring frost can severely damage buds, flowers, and fruits and can lead to the reduction of productivity. Among different plant families, the Rosaceae family contains several economically pivotal fruit-producing crops, such as Fragaria (strawberries), Malus (apple), Rubus (blueberries) and Prunus (stone fruits), which suffer from cold injuries during the blooming period. This chapter provides a general overview of the role of various molecular components involved in sensing and signal transduction processes as well as the regulation of gene expression in response to cold stress in fruit crops. Besides, the impact of next-generation sequencing approaches is highlighted in the molecular studies of the Rosaceae family. Also, we have addressed the existing gaps to help researchers identify areas that need more attention.