Shanshan Yang
,
School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Geneva, NY
Jonathan Fresnedo Ramirez
,
Institute of Biotechnology, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Elizabeth M. Takacs
,
School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Geneva, NY
Paola Barba
,
Cornell University, Geneva, NY
Katie Hyma
,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Jacquelyn Lillis
,
USDA-ARS Grape Genetics Research Unit, Geneva, NY
Charlotte Acharya
,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Ann Fisher
,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Linda Cote
,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
David Manns
,
Cornell University, Geneva, NY
Imelda Ryona
,
Cornell University, Geneva, NY
David Gadoury
,
Cornell University, Geneva, NY
Bob Seem
,
Cornell University, Geneva, NY
Gavin Sacks
,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Anna Katherine Mansfield
,
Cornell University, Geneva, NY
Craig A. Ledbetter
,
Crop Diseases, Pests and Genetics Research Unit, USDA-ARS, Parlier, CA
James J. Luby
,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Peter Hemstad
,
University of Minnesota, St. Paul, MN
Anne Fennell
,
South Dakota State University, Brookings, SD
Chin-Feng Hwang
,
Missouri State University, Mountain Grove, MO
Andrew Walker
,
University of California Davis, Davis, CA
Summaira Riaz
,
University of California Davis, Davis, CA
Peter Cousins
,
USDA-ARS Grape Genetics Research Unit, Geneva, NY
Jason Londo
,
USDA-ARS Grape Genetics Research Unit, Geneva, NY
Edward S. Buckler
,
Institute for Genomic Diversity, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Sharon E. Mitchell
,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Peter Schweitzer
,
Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Qi Sun
,
Institute for Genomic Diversity, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Lance Cadle-Davidson
,
USDA-ARS Grape Genetics Research Unit, Geneva, NY
Bruce Reisch
,
School of Integrative Plant Science, Cornell University, Geneva, NY
The USDA-NIFA VitisGen project (Award No. 2011-51181-30635) aims to optimize grape cultivar improvement through the integration of grape breeding, cutting edge genomics technology, precision phenotyping, socioeconomic research, and extension. VitisGen is a five-year project involving 25 co-PIs at 11 institutions, focused on identifying the genes associated with economically important traits and on developing tools for marker-assisted selection (MAS).
To date, 23,328 vines were genotyped for marker development or application. Seventeen F1 families were prioritized as core sets to develop new markers. Genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) technology was applied to obtain single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, which were used for linkage map construction and subsequent quantitative trait locus (QTL) mapping. Three trait evaluation centers provided quantitative phenotypic data for analysis of powdery mildew resistance, low temperature response, and fruit quality. The average number of raw SNP markers per population was 150,000, of which 10% with high quality were chosen on average for linkage mapping. Twenty-two parental maps were generated from eleven crosses and utilized for QTL mapping. At least one major QTL was identified for each trait. Further analyses such as candidate gene scans and PCR marker development are in process. In the meantime, the project developed a high-throughput protocol for SSR processing and analysis, which allowed breeders to utilize MAS to increase the efficiency of seedling trials.
The results so far support the VitisGen vision to pursue a better understanding of grape genomics and to implement molecular procedures to accelerate the breeding process, which will ultimately benefit researchers, breeders, growers, and consumers.
