Background Increasing global food demand is one of the greatest challenges of modern agricultural sciences. A crucial agronomic trait for plant breeding programs to increase yield production is fruit weight (FW). Although two major FW quantitative loci (FW2.2 and FW11.3) have been isolated and studied in several crop species, much still remains to be done for stone fruit trees, such as plum ( Prunus domestica L.). Results In t...

In Italy, lemon is a crucial economic cultivation, primarily grown in southern regions like Sicily, Calabria, Apulia and Campania. Despite its importance, the number of cultivars is limited and efforts are being made to both exploit and preserve local cultivars. Bio-agronomic and genetic characterization are essential steps towards achieving these goals. Our study explores the phenotypic and genetic diversity of four local cul...