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Genetics of Pigment Biosynthesis and Degradation

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The Kiwifruit Genome

Part of the book series: Compendium of Plant Genomes ((CPG))

Abstract

Within the genus Actinidia, there is large variability in fruit skin and flesh colour. The most familiar kiwifruit, A. chinensis var. deliciosa ‘Hayward’, has flesh of bright emerald green. Although many species have live, coloured fruit skins, most commercial cultivars have a dead, brown fruit skin. Hidden underneath the skin is a diversity and range of flesh colours which are characteristic of the species or specific genotypes. From a commercial point of view, flesh colour has become a particularly important feature which distinguishes the fruit and new cultivars in the market. In today’s market, there is a large number of cultivars with a range of flesh colours grouped into three main categories: green, yellow and red. The red-fleshed cultivars are a recent addition and have generated great interest throughout the industry worldwide. It is also the distinctive feature of the genotype used to build the reference genome for A. chinensis var. chinensis (Huang et al., 2013).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Private Bag 92169, Auckland Mail Centre, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand

    Mirco Montefiori, Sarah M. Pilkington & Andrew C. Allan

  2. The New Zealand Institute for Plant and Food Research Limited, Private Bag 11-600, Palmerston North, 4442, New Zealand

    Kevin M. Davies

Authors
  1. Mirco Montefiori
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  2. Sarah M. Pilkington
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  3. Kevin M. Davies
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  4. Andrew C. Allan
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mirco Montefiori .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Agriculture, University of Udine, Udine, Italy

    Raffaele Testolin

  2. Chinese Academy of Sciences, South China Botanical Garden, Guangzhou, China

    Hong-Wen Huang

  3. for Plant & Food Research, The New Zealand Institute, Auckland, New Zealand

    Allan Ross Ferguson

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Montefiori, M., Pilkington, S.M., Davies, K.M., Allan, A.C. (2016). Genetics of Pigment Biosynthesis and Degradation. In: Testolin, R., Huang, HW., Ferguson, A. (eds) The Kiwifruit Genome. Compendium of Plant Genomes. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32274-2_12

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