2012 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416): Develop and apply marker assisted breeding in Rosaceae fruit crops more efficiently and rapidly. 1b.Approach (from AD-416): We have organized a diverse team of researchers (genomicists, breeders, ag economists, and extension personnel)to: 1)increase the likelihood of new Rosaceae cultivar adoption, 2)integrate breeding and genomics resources by establishing a standardized statistical framework and breeding information management system, 3)establish sustainable infrastructure for an efficient MAB pipeline in Rosaceae including crop-specific SNP genome scan platforms for breeding-relevant germplasm, 4)implement the MAB pipeline to demonstrate application of efficient MAB schemes in U.S. breeding programs, and 5)enhance sustainability of cultivar development by training of current and future Rosaceae plant breeders and active engagement of industry stakeholders and the allied research community. Specialty Crops Research Initiative. 3.Progress Report: Strawberry is one of the five fruit crops included in the USDA-NIFA funded multi-institutional and trans-disciplinary project, “RosBREED: Enabling Marker-Assisted Breeding in Rosaceae”. Crop reference sets that include genotypes and seedling populations representing the breadth of relevant diversity and encompassing founders used in breeding the domestic strawberry were developed and propagated and then planted in Oregon, Michigan, California, New Hampshire, and Florida. Mapping populations (bin sets) from Michigan, the United Kingdom, The Netherlands, France and Spain were included along with 100s of other genotypes representing the clonal diversity in strawberry. Phenotypic traits were identified that will be used to comprehensively characterize this Crop Reference Set including fruit weight, firmness, skin toughness, soluble solids, titratable acidity, pH, external and internal color, flavor, shape, ease of capping, drip loss after freezing and thawing, and total anthocyanins for fruit quality attributes together with remontancy, crop load, disease resistance and plant architecture. The phenotypic data was collected in 2011 and is ongoing in 2012. Genome-wide genotypic information will also be developed for each member of the Crop Reference Set using single nucleotide polymorphisms. Pedigree Based Analysis will integrate phenotypic and genotypic data using FlexQTLTM software to identify and validate QTLs for important fruit quality traits. Economically valuable genetic tests will then be incorporated into breeding operations via an eight-stage Marker-Assisted Breeding Pipeline. This approach will provide powerful infrastructure for routine applications of marker-assisted breeding in strawberry. This research was conducted in support of objective 3A of the parent project.