Lü lab majorly focus on postharvest biology and stress of horticultural crops developing proper systems that improve quality/productivity while reducing losses and waste due to postharvest biotic, abiotic and longevity issues. Our major aim is 1) to address the molecular basis of plant ripening and senescence; and 2) to dissect how environmental factors (e.g. temperature and water) and phytohormones effect on the performance of horticultural crops. We use the methods developed by the human ENCODE project to systematically profile the gene expression, open chromatin, DNA methylation, histone modification to identify which transcription and regulatory factors that control ripening, senescence and other important agronomic traits. This research may result in the development and commercialization of horticultural crops with enhanced colors, improved stress tolerance and longer shelf life.