Abstract Apple (Malus domestica) is one of the most widely cultivated and consumed fruits worldwide, valued for its rich nutrition and health benefits. Cold limits apple tree growth, development, yield, and fruit quality. Understanding the regulatory networks of apple plants in response to cold stress is crucial for improving their cold tolerance. In this review, we summarize the molecular regulation of apple plants to withstand cold stress involving transcription cascade, hormone signal, reactive oxygen species (ROS) homeostasis, epigenetic control, and post-translational modifications, as well as the crosstalk pathway with drought, immune, and light. We also underscore the management strategies aimed at enhancing apple plants cold tolerance, including the utilization of wild germplasm resources, integration of multi-omics regulatory network, gene editing, molecular marker-assisted breeding, and rootstock grafting. This review provides a molecular basis for gene expression regulation strategies to improve apple trees cold tolerance.
Jia et al. (2026) studied this question.