Pan-genome of pear provides insights into the differentiation of fruit quality traits between Asian and European pears
The pear (Pyrus spp.) is a remarkable fruit, well known for its diverse flavors, textures, culinary versatility, and global horticultural importance. However, the genetic diversity responsible for its extensive phenotypic variations remains largely unexplored. Here, we de novo assembled and annotated the genomes of the maternal (PsbM) and paternal (PsbF) lines of the hybrid Yuluxiang pear and constructed the first pear pangenome of 1.15Gb by combining these two genomes with five previously published pear genomes. Using the constructed pangenome, we identified 21,224 gene PAVs and 1,158,812 SNPs in the non-reference genome that were absent in the PsbM reference genome. Compared with SNP markers, we found that PAV-based analysis provides additional insights into the pear population structure. In addition, we also revealed that some genes associated with pear fruit quality traits have differential occurrence frequencies and differential gene expression between Asian and European populations. Moreover, our analysis of the pear pangenome revealed a mutated SNP and an insertion in the promoter region of the gene PsbMGH3.1 potentially enhances sepal shedding in Xuehuali which is vital for pear quality. This research helps further capture the genetic diversity of pear populations and provides valuable genomic resources for accelerating pear breeding.