Blueprint for RosMASS: A Web-based Rosaceae Marker-assisted Seedling Selection Decision Support Tool

The routine application of Marker-assisted Selection (MAS) in Rosaceae breeding programs has been limited by a lack of accurate genomic information, access to high-throughput molecular biotechnology and software tools that assist in decision making. The RosBREED project is addressing all three of these areas to enable MAS in Rosaceae.  Here we report on development of RosMASS, a web–based breeding decision support tool being developed to assist Marker-assisted Seedling Selection (MASS) in Rosaceae breeding.  It will facilitate (1) evaluation of MASS efficiency in breeding programs, and (2) design of the most efficient selection model fitted for breeding targets.

RosMASS is being constructed within the scope of a generalized MASS pipeline with the Washington State University Apple Breeding Program evaluation system serving as a primary model. Once developed, this model can be further modified and extended to other breeding systems.  In this primary model, the accuracy and efficiency of selection with and without MASS can be calculated separately and compared based on information such as breeding stage (e.g. time/cost for each stage without MASS), heritability of the investigated trait(s); marker-locus-trait information (e.g. marker type(s), distance between the marker(s) and the gene/QTL, gene/QTL contribution for the total phenotypic variation, etc); genotyping cost per data point, etc. Based on the results, RosMASS will provide breeders with tools to design the most cost-efficient selection systems for their breeding programs.  In this way, RosMASS will prepare Rosaceae breeders with a well-designed selection strategy in order to make MASS decisions with confidence and effectiveness.