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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 #427638
Research Project: Accelerating Blueberry and Cranberry Improvement by Exploiting Germplasm Resources and Multi-omics Technologies

Location: Genetic Improvement for Fruits & Vegetables Laboratory

Title: Transcriptomic stress responses in Vaccinium spp. F1 hybrids: Implications for temperature-resilient cranberry breeding using a crop wild relative

Author
item DICKINSON, AUDREY - San Diego Botanic Garden
item KUBAL, JACKSON - Salk Institute Of Biological Studies
item ALLSING, NICHOLAS - Salk Institute Of Biological Studies
item MURRAY, EMILY - Salk Institute Of Biological Studies
item MICHAEL, TODD - Salk Institute Of Biological Studies
item Polashock, James

Submitted to: Plants, People, Planet
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 11/17/2025
Publication Date: 2/3/2026
Citation: Dickinson, A., Kubal, J., Allsing, N., Murray, E., Michael, T.P., Polashock, J.J. 2026. Transcriptomic stress responses in Vaccinium spp. F1 hybrids: Implications for temperature-resilient cranberry breeding using a crop wild relative. Plants, People, Planet. https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70150.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ppp3.70150

Interpretive Summary: Cranberries are a valuable native North American fruit crop. Sustainability of production is threatened by temperature extremes, both hot and cold. Hybrid progeny from a cross between cultivated cranberry and a cold-adapted wild cranberry species were evaluated at the molecular level for their response to heat and cold. Several hybrid seedlings showed improved tolerance to temperature extremes. These hybrid seedlings will lead to new cranberry cultivars that will produce reliably even after cold winters and hot summers, stabilizing productivity for growers and the cranberry industry.

Technical Abstract: Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) is an important North American fruit crop with vulnerability to temperature extremes and a relatively recent domestication history. Hybridization with a cold-adapted crop wild relative (CWR), V. oxycoccos, offers a strategy for improving temperature stress tolerance. We conducted RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) on V. macrocarpon and F1 hybrids between V. macrocarpon and V. oxycoccos subjected to acute heat and cold stress, capturing early transcriptional responses up to 30 minutes (heat) and 95 minutes (cold) after treatment onset. Differential expression analysis and functional profiling revealed cold-induced differences in pathways related to photosynthesis, ribosomes, defense, and hormone signaling during cold stress. No subgenome-specific functional specialization was observed. Two F1 hybrids exhibited suggestive cold resilience, with expression changes elevated at 60 minutes but declining by 95 minutes. Hybrids also displayed substantial regulatory variation under stress and transgressive downregulation of photosynthesis genes under ambient conditions. These findings suggest that V. oxycoccos introgression holds promise for breeding cold-tolerant cranberry cultivars. Variation observed between F1 hybrids reflects the diversity introduced through CWR germplasm and provides opportunities for selection. Conservation of V. oxycoccos and other CWRs remains critical for future crop improvement.