This project will establish a nationwide coordinated transdisciplinary research approach to develop and implement marker assisted selection (MAS) capacity in vaccinium breeding programs, to enable…

This project will establish a nationwide coordinated transdisciplinary research approach to develop and implement marker assisted selection (MAS) capacity in vaccinium breeding programs, to enable breeders to select and pyramid fruit characteristics (FCS) that positively contribute to fruit quality and market value. Vaccinium crops (blueberry and cranberry) provides vital contributions to human health and well-being, and collectively constitutes the economic backbone of many U.S. Rural communities. Vaccinium genetic and genomic resources are developing rapidly but have not been translated to routine practical application. Specific objectives are to: (1) establish a cost effective genotyping platform to expand marker-trait association analysis (MTA) in vaccinium, exploiting the shared ancestry of vaccinium crops; (2) identify DNA markers linked to fruit characteristics and elucidate how and which fruit characteristics affect fruit quality, relative to consumer preferences, decay during mechanical harvest, processing and distribution; (3) develop DNA assays to implement MAS in core vaccinium core breeding programs with a common focus on fruit quality traits; (4) enlarge market potential, and increase consumption of vaccinium fruits by using socio-economic knowledge of consumer preferences to inform breeding; and (5) enhance sustainability of cultivar development by transferring MAS technologies to public and private U.S. Vaccinium breeding programs through training current and future breeders as well as engaging the production, distribution, processing and marketing sectors, allied scientists, and consumers. This coordinated agricultural project proposal addresses scri focus area 1 (70%) and focus area 2 (30%).