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ARS Home » Northeast Area » Beltsville, Maryland (BARC) » Beltsville Agricultural Research Center » Genetic Improvement for Fruits & Vegetables Laboratory » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #320942
Title: Construction of a SNP and SSR linkage map in autotetraploid blueberry using genotyping by sequencing

Author
item MCCALLUM, SUSAN - The James Hutton Institute
item GRAHAM, JULIE - The James Hutton Institute
item JORGENSEN, LINZI - The James Hutton Institute
item Rowland, Lisa
item Bassil, Nahla
item HANCOCK, JAMES - Michigan State University
item WHEELER, ED - The Blueberry People
item VINING, KELLY - Oregon State University
item POLAND, JESSE - Kansas State University
item OLMSTEAD, JAMES - University Of Florida
item BUCK, EMILY - Plant And Food Research
item WIEDOW, CLAUDIA - Plant And Food Research
item JACKSON, ERIC - General Mills, Inc
item BROWN, ALLAN - North Carolina State University
item HACKETT, CHRISTINE - Biomathematics And Statistics Scotland (BIOSS)

Submitted to: Molecular Breeding
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/25/2016
Publication Date: 3/26/2016
Citation: Mccallum, S., Graham, J., Jorgensen, L., Rowland, L.J., Bassil, N.V., Hancock, J.F., Wheeler, E., Vining, K., Poland, J., Olmstead, J.W., Buck, E., Wiedow, C., Jackson, E., Brown, A., Hackett, C.A. 2016. Construction of a SNP and SSR linkage map in autotetraploid blueberry using genotyping by sequencing. Molecular Breeding. 36:41.

Interpretive Summary: Breeding new blueberry varieties is a slow process but could be accelerated and made more efficient if breeders could quickly identify seedlings from crosses that carry the most desirable traits. A DNA-based method, called “marker assisted selection”, is available to accomplish this, but it first requires the development of a genetic map so that DNA markers associated with important traits can be identified. In this study, an international team of scientists developed a genetic map of blueberry using plants resulting from a cross between two commercial highbush blueberry varieties, ‘Draper’ and ‘Jewel’. The plants have four copies of each chromosome, which makes the genetics more complicated. Despite this, the map is currently the best available for blueberry, comprised of about 2,000 markers. Blueberry breeders and geneticists worldwide can use this map and population in future studies to identify markers associated with important blueberry traits. These markers can then be used to more efficiently develop new blueberry varieties with desirable traits.

Technical Abstract: A mapping population developed from a cross between two key highbush blueberry cultivars, Draper × Jewel (Vaccinium corymbosum), segregating for a number of important phenotypic traits, has been utilized to produce a genetic linkage map. Data on 233 single sequence repeat (SSR) markers and 1794 single nucleotide polymorphic (SNP) markers were analyzed and found to show segregation patterns consistent with the simplest model for meiosis in an autotetraploid, random chromosomal segregation, allowing the production of the first linkage map for the cultivated tetraploid blueberry. Our approach uses TetraploidMap and JoinMap 4 software to handle the large number of markers involved. The Draper map is comprised of 12 linkage groups and totals 1,619 cM and the Jewel map contains 20 linkage groups totalling 1,608 cM. Tentative alignments of the two parental maps have been made on the basis of shared SSR alleles and linkages to double-simplex markers segregating in both parents.