Introduction -- Production and Academic importance of Prunus mume -- Origin and Evolution of Prunus mume -- Botanical Descriptions -- Taxonomy and germplasm -- The genome of Prunus mume -- Molecular mapping, genes cloning of & QTLs in Prunus mume -- Systems biology in Japanese apricot -- Small RNAs in Prunus mume -- The chloroplast genome of Prunus mume -- Prunus mume transcriptomics -- Functional genes on bud dormancy and impact on plant breeding -- Molecular and developmental biology: self-incompatibility -- Molecular and developmental biology: pistil abortion -- Reconstruction of ancestral chromosomes of Rosaceae.

This book reviews the current status of P. mume research, highlighting how the new data coming from the release of the P. mume genomes can advance science and help to solve a number of problems facing the P. mume industry. Prunus mume, which was domesticated in China more than 3,000 years ago as an ornamental plant and for its fruit, is one of the first genomes among the Prunus subfamilies of the Rosaceae family that has been sequenced. Combining the P. mume genome with available data, scientists have succeeded in reconstructing nine ancestral chromosomes of the Rosaceae family, as well as the chromosome fusion, fission and duplication history of three major subfamilies. The P. mumegenome sequence adds to our understanding of Rosaceae evolution and provides an important basis for the improvement of fruit trees. This book offers an essential a guide for all those who are interested in gene discovery, comparative genomics, molecular breeding and new breeding techniques; and will be particularly useful for scientists, breeders, university students, and public sector institutes that are involved in the P. mume industry and/or Rosaceae research.