Enabling marker-assisted breeding for fruit texture traits in progeny of the apple cultivar honeycrisp

Abstract

Apple fruit texture is a major determinant of consumer acceptability. The cultivar Honeycrisp, a product of the University of Minnesota apple breeding program, is commercially successful and widely recognized for its exceptional fruit texture qualities. Many breeding programs have begun using `Honeycrisp' as a parent, to develop new cultivars having superb fruit texture and adaptations to unique environmental pressures. This study quantifies fruit texture changes between years and from harvest through storage of fruit from individuals of the three major United States apple breeding programs. A broad range of texture quality was observed within these programs. Using three families with `Honeycrisp' as a common parent, a `Honeycrisp' parental linkage map was developed for use in detecting marker-trait-locus associations in the University of Minnesota apple breeding program. Three genomic regions associated with variation for firmness and crispness were identified as regions to target in implementing marker-assisted selection in `Honeycrisp' descendants.