Summary
On 6 November 2026, the Fruit Tree Research Centre hosted two scientists from New Zealand's Bioeconomy Science Institute (BSI, formerly Plant & Food Research), Dr Ross Atkinson and Dr Zhiwei (Luke) Luo, for academic exchanges and specialist seminars. Research staff and postgraduate students attended. Dr Atkinson presented 'Decoding Flavour and Health Genetics for Fruit Quality', outlining advances in understanding the genetic regulation of flavour, texture and health-related traits in kiwifruit, apple and other fruit crops, and sharing his team's collaboration with Zespri on fruit quality research and new cultivar development.
Dr Luo presented 'Shoot Branching Regulation – From Model Systems to Crop Plants', covering plant branching development and its hormonal signalling mechanisms, and the application of this basic research to crop plant architecture improvement. In recent years, the Fruit Tree Research Centre has steadily strengthened academic ties with New Zealand research teams through expert visits and visiting scholar exchanges, advancing collaborative research in fruit quality, genetic improvement and molecular breeding. The visit by the two scientists further enhanced mutual understanding and created favourable conditions for future research collaboration, talent exchange and joint training.
Commentary
The long-standing partnership between New Zealand's Bioeconomy Science Institute (formerly Plant & Food Research) and Zespri has established global leadership in kiwifruit flavour genetics. This exchange focused on fruit quality and plant architecture regulation, touching on core technologies in Zespri's new cultivar development. For NZ SMEs, China is Zespri's largest export market, and cultivar improvement directly affects supply chain stability and market preferences.
At the same time, the rapid progress of Chinese fruit research institutions in molecular breeding could give rise to domestic premium kiwifruit cultivars, potentially creating differentiated competition with New Zealand in future. NZ small and medium growers should monitor Chinese research developments and assess the potential for cultivar licensing or technical cooperation, rather than relying solely on a single exporter. Academic exchange opens a window for two-way technology transfer, but commercialisation pathways still require careful assessment of intellectual property and market access risks.
Keywords: Fruit Tree Research Centre, Bioeconomy Science Institute, academic exchange, Ross Atkinson, Zhiwei (Luke) Luo, fruit quality, genetic improvement, Zespri, molecular breeding
Photo by Zetong Li on Pexels
Source: Institute of Botany, Jiangsu Province and Chinese Academy of Sciences
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