Allele Mining in Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) Breeding Current State and Future Prospect

Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L.) is a stone-fruit species of the Rosaceae family that is cultivated commercially worldwide in any temperate region. It features numerous cultivars that are highly adapted to restricted areas. The many studies available, exploiting genome variability at both coding and non-coding portions of the genome, clearly demonstrate a gradient of decreasing genetic diversity from east (China and Central Asia) to west, the Mediterranean Basin that accounts for over 50% of the worldwide production, which could be related to the apricot diffusion process. This implies that an extensive and systematic investigation of genetic richness at these sites might enhance the process of allele mining and breeding. The breeding process of plants must rely on large-scale germplasm resources. Therefore, the collection, evaluation, management, and utilization of such resources must be supported by governments or organizations around the world. Genomics and its techniques have revolutionized the way breeding is performed. Nowadays, the availability of entirely sequenced genomes, along with transcriptome and proteome data, are part of an invaluable toolbox for the breeder. Finally, there are several techniques which are being developed and improved for plant breeding, which will be reflected in a greater knowledge of the phenotype, as well as phenotype-genotype relationship studies, or the gene editing itself. Coping in a rational and effective way with the data deluge stemming from a combined use of genomic and phenotyping approaches is a challenging activity. These new prospects foresee further progress in the short and medium term toward more efficient genetic plant breeding in fruit species such as apricot.