To assess strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa Duch.) fruit quality and correlate gene expression data with those from biochemical analyses, we analyzed 3161 expressed sequence tags (ESTs) amplified from a fruit cDNA library. The 25 largest contigs related to plant genes with assigned functions comprised 499 ESTs (16% of the total), including genes not only associated with ripening (cell wall metabolism, sugar and acid synthesis, pigment formation, vitamin synthesis and allergenic properties), but also with plant-pathogen interactions, abiotic stresses and housekeeping functions. Over 1800 representative ESTs were used to produce cDNA micro-arrays to carry out comparative profiling experiments with genotypes of different fruit quality. Such microarray experiments have shown a number of genes whose differential expression correlated with differences among genotypes in important quality traits such as fruit firmness (cinnamoyl-CoA reductase, cinnamyl alcohol dehydrogenase, expansin, endo-β-1,4-glucanase) and volatile compound composition (alcohol acyl transferase).

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