1. Basic information on the stone fruit crops / Daniel Potter -- 2. Traditional genetics and breeding / Thomas M. Gradziel -- 3. Diversity analysis / Mara Jose Aranzana, Teresa Barreneche and Pere Arus -- 4. Molecular linkage maps : strategies, resources and achievements / Elisabeth Dirlewanger, Eudald Illa and Werner Howad -- 5. Mapping and tagging of simply inherited traits / Jose Miguel Soriano and Maria Luisa Badenes -- 6. Molecular mapping of complex traits / Bode A. Olukolu and Chittaranjan Kole -- 7. Molecular breeding / Daniel Esmenjaud and Chinnathambi Srinivasan -- 8. Map-based cloning of single gene traits and quantitative traits / Renate Horn. [et al.] -- 9. Genome sequencing initiative / Ignazio Verde. [et al.] -- 10. Comparative genetics and genomics initiatives / Daniel J. Sargent, Sook Jung and Dorrie Main -- 11. Functional genomics : transcriptomics / Livio Trainotti. [et al.] -- 12. Proteomics and metabolomics / Mara V. Lara and Mara F. Drincovich -- 13. Bioinformatics as a tool for stone fruit research / Sook Jung and Dorrie Main -- 14. Retrospect and prospects / Albert G. Abbott.