ENHANCING THE SUSTAINABILITY OF GRAPE BREEDING PROGRAM THROUGH RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND EXTENSION

The Vitis aestivalis-derived 'Norton', the official grape of the State of Missouri, is an American grape that produces a premium wine. A significant limiting factor in Norton propagation is that it is difficult to root by dormant hardwood cuttings resulting in limited availability of planting stock for the grape and wine industry. In view of this, a mapping population of 182 F1 individuals was constructed from a cross between 'Norton' and 'Cabernet Sauvignon' to study the genetic variation in rooting ability of dormant hardwood cuttings and their subsequent growth. The ultimate goals of this proposed collaborative project are to use genetic markers to rapidly deploy favorable alleles, accelerate breeding cycles for new cultivar release, and provide opportunities for student education and industry advancement.Objective 1 - Build Research Capacity for Grapevine Improvement at MSU and MU1.1. Construct a Norton linkage map using both SSR and rhAmpSeq-based SNP markers1.2. Conduct a two-year segregation analysis of the entire F1 population for rooting ability of hardwood dormant cuttings1.3. Identify DNA markers associated with the rooting ability for future marker-assisted selectionObjective 2 - Build Educational Capacity of MSU and MU2.1. Incorporate rooting ability phenotyping concept in the "Plant Breeding and Genetics" course2.2. Offer hands-on experience on grapevine interspecific hybrid identification in the "Plant Breeding and Genetics Lab" course2.3. Provide two graduate assistantships to work on grape molecular breeding programObjective 3 - Build Experiential Extension and Viticulture Capacity at MSU and MU3.1. Provide graduate students experiential Extension opportunities with grape growers, workshops and conferences3.2. Provide graduate students experiential viticulture opportunities in commercial vineyards and MSU and MU vineyards