Exocarp color is a commercially essential quality for pear which can be divided into two types: green and russet. The occurrence of russet color is associated with deficiencies and defects in the cuticular and epidermal layers, which affect the structure of the cell wall and the deposition of suberin. Until now, the genetic basics triggering this trait have not been well understood, and limited genes have been identified for the trait. To figure out the gene controlling the trait of exocarp color, we perform a comprehensive genome-wide association study, and we describe the candidate genes. One gene encoding the ABCG protein has been verified to be associated with the trait, using an integrative analysis of the metabolomic and transcriptomic data. This review covers a variety of omics resources, which provide a valuable resource for identifying gene-controlled traits of interest. The findings in this study help to elucidate the genetic components responsible for the trait of exocarp color in pear, and the implications of these findings for future pear breeding are evaluated.

Accurate varietal identification remains a persistent issue in pear germplasm conservation, creating obstacles in breeding parent selection and impeding progress in elite cultivar research and cultivation. This study aims to develop a set of highly polymorphic single-nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers for pear variety identification. Based on the design criteria for highly polymorphic KASP primers, 34 primer pairs were synthesized, of which 25 produced reliable genotyping results, showing clear separation among different genotypes with minimal missing data. The 269 pear accessions were successfully genotyped, with observed heterozygosity (Ho) ranging from 0.33 to 0.56, polymorphism information content (PIC) values between 0.336 and 0.375, and minor allele frequency (MAF) ranging from 0.31 to 0.50. A total of 257 distinct genotypes were obtained from 269 pear accessions, among which two groups of known bud mutation were consistent, and ten groups of potential synonym accessions were detected. The cluster analysis based on the 25 KASP markers separated the 269 pear accessions into two clusters, which showed a broad association with taxonomic background and origin. This study shows that this CoreSNP-KASP marker set can be used for preliminary molecular screening of pear accessions and provides useful information to support subsequent breeding programs.