Pear Genomics Research Network: SNP Discovery and Genetic Diversity Evaluation in Pyrus

The University of California (UC) Davis, the National Clonal Germplasm Repository (NGCR) in Corvallis, OR, the Appalachian Fruit Research Station (AFRS) in Kearneysville, WV, and Washington State University (WSU) have teamed up under the new Pear Genomics Research Network (PGRN). One of the objectives of PGRN is the implementation of a Marker Assisted Breeding (MAB) program for pear to address the main concerns of U.S. pear growers, such as development of size-controlling and precocious rootstocks and resistance to biotic and abiotic stresses. Within this collaboration, we have started a re-sequencing project for the evaluation of Pyrus genetic diversity. We selected 55 pear accessions, representing founding cultivars and 29 species and hybrids, within the NGCR and AFRL collections for low-coverage sequencing aimed at the discovery of Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). We plan to develop an array with tens of thousands of SNP markers to be used for large-scale genotyping of pear cultivars and hybrids of interest. This high-density SNP array will enhance the identification of marker-trait associations, and therefore will be very useful for the implementation of MAB in pear.