The peach genome should be useful to scientists working with a number of peach relatives whose genomes appear to be similar to that of the peach, according to Sosinski.“Some of these relatives, such as apple or plum, might be expected, but others, such as strawberries and raspberries, and trees, such as poplar and chestnut, would seem unlikely in that the plants are quite different from peaches,” he said.
It is likely, Sosinski added, that all these plants had common ancestors, and that while they have evolved to be quite different today, their genetic makeup remains similar. As a result, what scientists learn about the peach genome may transfer to these relatives, as the peach genome appears to be relatively unchanged or ancestral in nature. If, for example, scientists identify a peach gene that influences sugar content in the fruit, strawberries and raspberries may have that same gene and it may have the same function.
Read more at FreshPlaza