Tissue specific transcriptome analysis of hormone-treated apple fruits

Commercial sprays containing the hormones auxin and gibberellin are used to improve apple fruit set, size and shape, but have been implicated in negatively affecting other aspects of fruit quality. We applied gibberellin (GA3) and synthetic auxin (NAA) to ‘Honeycrisp’ apple flowers at balloon stage. In order to determine the genetic cause of hormone-induced fruit quality differences, we performed transcriptome analysis on hypanthium, ovary and ovule/seed tissues from GA3-treated, NAA-treated and control fruits, at 18 days after treatment (DAT), and again at maturity (132 DAT).