Relationships among alpha-farnesene synthesis and oxidation, ethylene production and perception, antioxidative enzyme activities, and superficial scald development in fruit of three commercial apple cultivars were investigated at the biochemical and gene transcriptional levels. Scald-susceptible Cortland and Law Rome and scald-resistant Idared apples were untreated or treated with the ethylene action inhibitor 1-methylcyclopropene (1-MCP) and stored for up to 25 weeks at 0.5 degrees C. Separate blushed (red) and unblushed (green) peel tissue samples were taken at harvest and after 2, 4, 6, 10, 15, 20, and 25 weeks of storage. Large increases in peel tissue concentrations of alpha-farnesene and its conjugated trienol (CTol) oxidation products occurred in untreated Cortland and Law Rome and were about 4-9-fold greater than those in Idared. In both Cortland and Law Rome, accumulation of CTols in green peel was nearly twice that in red peel. 1-MCP treatment delayed and attenuated alpha-farnesene and CTol accumulation in each cultivar. Activities of peroxidase (POX) and catalase (CAT) were lower in red peel than in green peel, with the exception of CAT in Law Rome, whereas no effects of 1-MCP on enzyme activities were detected except for Cortland. In control fruit, internal ethylene concentrations (IECs) increased during the first 4-6 weeks to reach highest levels in Cortland, intermediate levels in Law Rome, and low levels in Idared. In 1-MCP-treated fruit, IECs increased gradually to modest levels by 25 weeks in Cortland and Law Rome but were almost nil in Idared. Expression patterns of the alpha-farnesene synthase gene MdAFS1, the ethylene receptor gene MdERS1, and the ethylene biosynthetic genes MdACS1 and MdACO1 were generally in accord with the patterns of alpha-farnesene and ethylene production. In particular, MdAFS1 and MdACS1 showed similar patterns of expression in each cultivar. Among the controls, transcript levels increased more rapidly in Cortland and Law Rome than in Idared during the first few weeks of storage. In 1-MCP-treated fruit, transcript abundance in Cortland and Law Rome rose to untreated control levels after 10-15 weeks but remained low in Idared. Scald symptoms were restricted to unblushed skin, and the incidence in controls after 25 weeks was nearly 100% in Cortland and Law Rome compared with 1% in Idared. 1-MCP treatment reduced scald incidence to 14, 3, and 0% in Cortland, Law Rome, and Idared, respectively. Overall, the results support the proposed role of CTols in scald induction and indicate that alpha-farnesene synthesis is tightly regulated by ethylene. However, gene transcription alone does not account for the big differences in ethylene and alpha-farnesene production in Cortland, Law Rome, and Idared apples.