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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Vegetable Crops Research » Research » Research Project #443359

Research Project: Applying Advanced Phenotypic and Genomic Tools to Improve Flavor, Nutrition, and Production Traits in Carrot

Location: Vegetable Crops Research

Project Number: 5090-21000-073-081-I
Project Type: Interagency Reimbursable Agreement

Start Date: Sep 15, 2022
End Date: Sep 14, 2026

Objective:
Obj. 1 - Develop cost-effective genomic tools to advance breeding populations and integrate loci related to economically significant traits identified by stakeholders. Obj. 2 – Using multi-parental and bi-parental populations to map location(s) of genes underlying economically important traits using an optimized genomic-assisted strategies from Obj 1. Obj. 3 - Evaluate bioavailability of nutrients in selected breeding stocks with varying nutrient composition that may influence bioavailability (e.g., greater nutrient content, mixtures of carotenoids and anthocyanins). Obj. 4 – Estimate economic value to buyers and the industry of improved traits on a simple trait and multiple trait basis.

Approach:
1-The specific research milestones include: (i) sequencing, de novo assembly, and annotate 20-25 elite breeding lines and landraces harboring alleles underlying important traits; (ii) Identify single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) and structural variants (SVs) representative of genetic diversity in diverse germplasm and elite breeding lines; (iii) Produce optimized genotyping platforms for trait discovery in targeted populations, introgress of alleles contributing to traits with simple inheritance, and genomic assisted selection for complex traits in carrot breeding populations. 2 – Conduct genetic mapping in populations created from crosses with elite breeding lines and landraces for economically important traits with complex genetic inheritance including resistance to root knot nematode (RKN) and cavity spot, bolting resistance, and seedling vigor. 3 - Evaluate high and low carotenoid and/or anthocyanin bioavailability in carrot lines with methods we have established. 4 – Measure net payoffs to consumers and producers using economic simulation models and estimated cost and willingness-to-pay parameters for the traits evaluated.