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ARS Home » Pacific West Area » Corvallis, Oregon » National Clonal Germplasm Repository » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #391158
Research Project: Management of Temperate-Adapted Fruit, Nut, and Specialty Crop Genetic Resources and Associated Information

Location: National Clonal Germplasm Repository

Title: Analysis of a multi-environment trial for black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.) quality traits

Author
item WILLMAN, MATTHEW - The Ohio State University
item Bushakra, Jill
item Bassil, Nahla
item FINN, CHAD - Former ARS Employee
item DOSSETT, MICHAEL - Agriculture And Agri-Food Canada
item PERKINS-VEAZIE, PENELOPE - North Carolina State University
item BRADISH, CHRISTINE - Consultant
item FERNANDEZ, GINA - North Carolina State University
item WEBER, COURTNEY - Cornell University
item SCHEERENS, JOSEPH - The Ohio State University
item DUNLAP, LISA - The Ohio State University
item FRESNEDO-RAMIREZ, JONATHAN - The Ohio State University

Submitted to: Genes
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/24/2022
Publication Date: 2/25/2022
Citation: Willman, M.R., Bushakra, J., Bassil, N.V., Finn, C.E., Dossett, M., Perkins-Veazie, P., Bradish, C.M., Fernandez, G.E., Weber, C.A., Scheerens, J.C., Dunlap, L., Fresnedo-Ramirez, J. 2022. Analysis of a multi-environment trial for black raspberry (Rubus occidentalis L.) quality traits. Genes. 13(3). Article 418. https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13030418.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13030418

Interpretive Summary: Black raspberries (BR) grown in the US come from a very narrow genetic background, therefore they have limited ability to adapt to different growing conditions. This study used populations of BR developed from a cross between an industry standard and wild material. The populations were planted in different growing regions, and used to assess the genetic stability of four fruit size traits and six fruit biochemistry traits over three years. The results suggest that the traits controlling fruit size are inherited together, and that the fruit biochemistry traits are influenced by the growing location. This information will be useful for breeders in the process of developing BR for changing climates and growing areas.

Technical Abstract: U.S. black raspberry (BR) production is currently limited by narrowly- adapted, elite germplasm. Improved understanding of genetic control and stability of pomological traits will inform the development of improved BR germplasm and cultivars. To this end, analysis of a multiple-environment trial of BR mapping populations derived from crosses of a commercial cultivar with a wild accession has provided insights into genetic variation, genotype-by-environment interactions, quantitative trait loci (QTL), and QTL-by-environment interactions (QEI) of fruit quality traits among diverse field environments. Genetic components and stability of four fruit size traits and six fruit biochemistry traits were characterized in these mapping populations following their evaluation over three years at four distinct locations representative of current U.S. BR production. This revealed relatively stable genetic control of the four fruit size traits across the tested production environments and less stable genetic control of the six fruit biochemistry traits. Ten QTL associated with three fruit morphology traits and five QTL associated with two fruit biochemistry traits were identified. Of the fifteen total QTL, eleven exhibited significant QEI. Closely overlapping QTL revealed linkage of several fruit size traits: fruit mass, drupelet count, and seed fraction. These and related findings are expected to guide further genetic characterization of BR fruit quality, management of breeding germplasm, and development of improved BR cultivars for U.S. production.