EVALUATION OF FRUIT QUALITY AND MID-WINTER RESILIENCE IN A CRANBERRY (VACCINIUM SPP.) DIVERSITY PANEL, AND COLLECTION OF CRANBERRY GERMPLASM

The first research goal is to evaluate and characterize the USDA-ARS cranberry germplasm collection, maintained at the Wisconsin Cranberry Research Station (Black River Falls, WI). The project would allow us to identify accessions that have strong breeding potential for traits that are currently lacking in modern varieties and highly desirable to growers and industry professionals. The data we collect will allow us to estimate trait heritability and estimate the breeding values using mixed model approaches. Ultimately this project is concerned with the identification traits that add value to public cranberry breeding programs. This first goal is linked to the analysis in the second research goal, which is to genotype the populations and identify genetic associations with traits of interest, which will then be used to identify candidate accessions, design and optimize breeding programs and objectives. The evaluation of genetic associations with traits will help to understand trait architecture and expedite breeding and selection through the development of molecular markers. The third goal of the project is to expand the USDA-ARS collection at the UW-Madison Cranberry Breeding Genomics Lab by 25%, by conducting plant propagule and tissue (DNA) collection, in-situ phenotyping (e.g., plant architecture, flowering, fruit quality, etc.), genotyping, and bringing live specimens to contribute to the genetic diversity of the collection.