Between Dec 19, 2024 and Jan 2, 2025, datasets can be submitted to DRUM but will not be processed until after the break. Staff will not be available to answer email during this period, and will not be able to provide DOIs until after Jan 2. If you are in need of a DOI during this period, consider Dryad or OpenICPSR. Submission responses to the UDC may also be delayed during this time.

Browsing by Subject "Apple"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Estimating market equilibrium values of fruit attributes for apple and strawberry using choice experiments with consumers and producers
    (2015-01) Choi, Jong Woo
    Rosaceous fruits, which comprise some 90 genera with over 3000 distinct species, are one of the most important plant families and constitute the economic backbone of some U.S. rural areas. Apples and strawberries are two of the most important Rosaceous fruits. To meet the dynamic consumer demand, and to keep apple and strawberry industries sustainable, innovation through development and commercialization of new cultivars has become an increasingly important strategy. We used choice experiments to collect consumer and producer preference data, and then employed mixed logit models to analyze the choice experiment data and simulate each individual producer's and consumer's WTP for the fruit attributes. Based on the simulation results, we derived the supply and demand curves for each fruit attribute, synthesized consumers and producers' WTP information, and derived the equilibrium prices and quantities for each fruit attribute. The apple attributes included in the choice experiments were appearance, crispness, firmness, flavor, shelf-life, size, and price. The strawberry attributes were external color, internal color, firmness, flavor, shelf-life, size, and price. The choice experiment data was collected through a combination of mail-in and online surveys with growers and online surveys with consumers. In total, we got 321 completed apple grower surveys, 86 completed strawberry grower surveys, 801 completed apple consumer surveys, and 1137 completed strawberry consumer surveys. We found producers prefer apples with longer shelf-life and intense apple flavor. Consumers prefer very crisp apples and apples with intense apple flavor. Producers prefer strawberries with intense strawberry flavor and high firmness. Consumers prefer strawberries to have ideal red internal and external color. After incorporating both consumer and producer preferences and WTP information, we found that for apples the highest equilibrium price is for crispness, and for strawberries the highest equilibrium price is for internal color.By estimating the equilibrium prices and quantities, total revenue and total surplus for each fruit attribute, we successfully synthesize producers and consumers' WTP results. Our results provide important information on what attributes would generate the highest total revenue or social surplus so that breeders can allocate their resources accordingly to focus on the improvement of these attributes.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The genetic dissection of fruit texture traits in the apple cultivar honeycrisp.
    (2010-12) McKay, Steven John
    The commercially successful cultivar Honeycrisp, released by the University of Minnesota in 1991, is known for its high degrees of crispness and juiciness. This cultivar has been incorporated into numerous breeding programs in an effort to duplicate its desirable texture traits in conjunction with such other traits as disease resistance and improved tree vigor. This study characterizes several apple fruit texture traits within a large breeding population over several years, combining the established protocols of incomplete block design, sensory evaluation panels, and best linear unbiased prediction. Five full-sib families, all of which share `Honeycrisp' as a common parent, were assayed using a variety of molecular markers, and genetic maps were constructed for each of the five families. The five genetic maps were aligned to produce a consensus genetic map for `Honeycrisp'. Predicted genotype values from each of the five families were coupled with the corresponding molecular data and the genetic maps to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) for each family-by-year combination, which were compared relative to the consensus genetic map. Several intervals were identified within the map over which QTLs for multiple families and multiple years were collocated, reflecting consistent and robust QTLs. Results are largely in accordance with previous studies of other apple cultivars with notable exceptions, which are discussed in the context of the recently published apple genome sequence
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Genomewide Selection in Apple: Prediction and Postdiction in the University of Minnesota Apple Breeding Program
    (2019-10) Blissett, Elizabeth
    Although marker assisted breeding is now considered routine in apple breeding programs, the adoption of genomewide selection is still in its infancy. Genomewide selection offers the potential to be a valuable tool to apple breeders. The first aim of this research was to assess the predictive ability of genomewide selection for fruit traits by testing an additive prediction model, a model fitting heterozygote effects, and a model fitting fixed effects for major QTL. The second aim of this research was to assess the utility of genomewide selection for fruit traits in the University of Minnesota apple breeding program. This comprised two main objectives, a comparison of selections based on genomewide predictions to selections made based on phenotypic selection and an analysis of the impact on predictive ability when full-sibs are included in the training data. This research finds that in general, a simple linear model is the most efficient choice for genomewide selection in apple unless major effect QTL are known, in which case including them as fixed effects may improve predictive abilities. We also confirmed that predictions made based on genomewide selection to be consistent with selections based on traditional phenotypic selection and that including five to 15 full-sibs from the test population in the training population data can improve predictive ability.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Honeycrisp Apple
    (Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station, 1992) Luby, James J.; Bedford, David S.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Identification and Characterization of Important Quantitative Trait Loci for Soluble Solids and Titratable Acidity for Germplasm in the University of Minnesota Apple Breeding Program
    (2020-12) Miller, Baylee
    Apple fruit acidity and sweetness are two of the major trait components involved in apple seedling sensory evaluation. Published studies have alluded to some of the genetic components of apple fruit acidity and sweetness, but few have included an array of germplasm relevant to the University of Minnesota apple breeding program. With the release and subsequent frequent use of ‘Honeycrisp’ and ‘Minneiska’ apple cultivars as parents at the University of Minnesota, the germplasm set deviates from other breeding programs. In order to increase breeding efficiency and increase overall quality of apple seedlings, this study describes the genetic components of apple fruit acidity and sweetness and provides breeding insights to negate the creation of undesirable apple seedlings. This study uses data from 2010 to 2018 to characterize a wide but relevant array of germplasm, using six major families, three of which have ‘Honeycrisp’ as a parent, and three of which have ‘Minneiska’ as a parent. Three major loci associated with variation in titratable acidity content on linkage groups 1, 8, and 16, and two loci associated with variation in soluble solids content on linkage groups 1 and 13 were identified, and haplotypes were characterized for each locus. The conclusions from this study provide insights for designing crosses that create seedlings with desirable ranges of acidity and sweetness characteristics.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Oral history interview with Susan Landau
    (Charles Babbage Institute, 2024-01-30) Landau, Susan
    This oral history interview is sponsored by NSF 2202484 “Mining a Useable Past: Perspectives, Paradoxes, and Possibilities with Security and Privacy,” at the Charles Babbage Institute. Professor Susan Landau begins with her experience at Bronx Science High School, and its strong influence on her. She then moves on to her undergraduate days at Princeton. She relates how she shifted from Math to Computer Science during her graduate studies at Cornell and then went on to MIT to earn her Ph.D. in Theoretical Computer Science. Landau comments on the gendered environments and sexism at these schools. It is a theme in her later discussing her motivation for founding the ResearcHers email list. Landau became an Assistant Professor of Computer Science within the Math Department at Wesleyan. She discusses the evolution of her research during her early years as an academic—this includes the Landau’s Algorithm for “de-nesting” radicals. Landau provides context for her thought about mathematical applications to cryptography, the state of art of privacy with regard to cryptography in the mid-1970s, the book Privacy on the Line: The Politics of Wiretapping and Encryption co-authored with Whitfield Diffie, and her book People Count. Landau then turns to her years at Sun Microsystems in the 1990s, including the establishment of the principles for Digital Rights Management and DRM Project DReaM. Landau discusses her transition to Radcliffe Institute, Google, Worcester Polytech, and finally, her long tenure and current home at Tufts University. This includes her elaborating on founding a Master’s Program in Cybersecurity and Public Policy there. She highlights recollections of her encounter with famed physicist Joseph Rotblat and his influence on her life. She also relates her longtime collaboration with Steve Bellovin and Matt Blaze at the intersection of tech, security and privacy, policy, and law. She contextualizes her testimony before Congress with the Apple 2015, 2016 (Encryption Dispute—should Apple be forced to unlock its encryption to authorities/FBI) case. And she also comments on a variety of issues including state-sponsored hacking capabilities, the great importance of communicating with broader audiences, and her style and approach in mentoring graduate students.