BREEDING AND GENETICS OF LOW-CHILL BLUEBERRY CULTIVARS ADAPTED TO FLORIDA

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: HATCH
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1004633
• Project Start Date: Oct 22, 2014
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2019
• Program Code: [(N/A)]- (N/A)

Recipient Organization
UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA
G022 MCCARTY HALL
GAINESVILLE,FL 32611

Performing Department
Horticultural Science

Non Technical Summary
Southern highbush blueberries are a high-value specialty crop in Florida. In the past ten years, annual Florida production has increased from 3 million to over 20 million pounds with an estimated value of nearly $70 million. During the months of March and April, as southern hemisphere production slows and before traditional northern hemisphere production areas begin harvest, Florida is the major domestic supplier of fresh blueberries. The University of Florida (UF) blueberry breeding program has had a major contribution to the rapid expansion of the Florida industry, with an estimated 95% of current production from cultivars developed at UF. However, future expansion of this industry will depend on how well our producers can adapt to a decreasing labor force, increasing costs of establishment and production, and ongoing environmental concerns. Maintaining a competitive and sustainable blueberry industry in Florida requires the continued development of improved cultivars specifically designed to meet these challenges.

Animal Health Component

20%

Research Effort Categories

Basic

50%

Applied

20%

Developmental

30%

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
202	1120	1081	70%
201	1120	1040	30%

Knowledge Area
202 - Plant Genetic Resources; 201 - Plant Genome, Genetics, and Genetic Mechanisms;

Subject Of Investigation
1120 - Blueberry;

Field Of Science
1040 - Molecular biology; 1081 - Breeding;

Keywords

blueberry

southern highbush blueberry

genetics

molecular markers

marker-assisted breeding

Goals / Objectives
The objective of this project is the development of blueberry cultivars adapted to subtropical production areas in Florida. Specific objectives of this project include 1) identification, characterization, and exploitation of desirable traits from Vaccinium species through breeding to increase the production efficiency and profitability of Florida blueberry growers; and 2) increasing blueberry breeding efficiency through application of molecular technologies.

Project Methods
Objective 1: Identifying, characterizing, and exploiting desirable traits of Vaccinium species through breeding to increase the production efficiency and profitability of Florida blueberry growers. At least 150 crosses will be made annually. Parents for these crosses will consist of cultivars, advanced selections, outstanding seedling selections, and wild plant material. A staged selection strategy will be used, with over 25,000 genotypes under evaluation each year. In the first stage of selection, 15,000 plants (100 seedlings x 150 families) will be planted in a high density nursery for evaluation of precocity and fruit quality. 10% of those seedlings will be retained for stage 2 evaluation. Stage 2 seedlings will be evaluated for up to three years, and the best 10% of these seedlings will be selected for stage 3 evaluation. The third stage of selection will consist of clonally propagated plots of these 150 selections. The final stage of selection will consist of 15-20 of the best stage 3 genotypes planted in multi-site trials. The four primary testing sites span the range of production areas in Florida, and allow us to measure growth, yield, and fruit quality under different environmental and management conditions to select the most widely adapted cultivars for Florida production.Objective 2: Increasing blueberry breeding efficiency through application of molecular technologies. Using currently available molecular markers, diversity of the UF blueberry germplasm will be assessed. These diversity assessments will be used to better classify potential parents for crossing, and to develop a molecular fingerprint database of all advanced selections. Avoiding inbreeding depression and maintenance of true-to-type germplasm are two basic aspects of breeding that can be substantially improved through use of molecular markers. Previous cold acclimation and chill requirement research has identified key genes and regulatory aspects that could be used for selection (Dhanaraj et al., 2007; Rowland et al., 2008, 2012). The utility of these findings in low-chill SHB germplasm is currently unknown. Candidate genes and quantitative trait loci associations will be tested in biparental populations and among advanced selections. Similarly, traits that are determined to be of critical importance to the UF breeding program will be targeted for marker-trait association development.

Progress 10/22/14 to 08/31/19

Outputs
Target Audience: Nothing Reported Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided? Nothing Reported How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest? Nothing Reported What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Project Director is no longer at UF and we are closing this project out in REEport.

Publications

Progress 10/22/14 to 09/30/15

Outputs
Target Audience:The primary target audience for this project are blueberry breeders, research and extension scientists working in Vaccinium production, and blueberry producers in the southeastern United States. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Training for five undergraduate and four graduate students was accomplished during the reporting period. In addition to participation in research outcomes reported previously, undergraduate and graduate students contribute to laboratory, greenhouse, and field maintenance, and participate in evaluation and selection of blueberry germplasm. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Breeding program goals, methodology, and cultivar descriptions were disseminated through grower meetings and field days, update articles in the Florida Blueberry Growers Association quarterly newsletter, other trade publications, and published cultivar descriptions. Research program findings were disseminated to scientists through participation in scientific meetings and scientific publications. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Developing cultivars in a perennial crop such as blueberry is a long-term endeavor - at least 14 years from cross to cultivar release and commercialization for blueberries developed in the UF breeding program. However, on an annual basis, all aspects of the cultivar development timeline occur concurrently. Thus, in the upcoming year, we expect to continue with hybridization, seedling development, and advanced selection evaluation. In addition to the continued identification of marker-trait associations, we are working toward implementation of whole-genome prediction and crossing design.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Southern highbush blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum interspecific hybrids) are a high-value specialty crop in Florida. In the past ten years, annual Florida production has increased from 3 million to over 20 million pounds, with an estimated value of nearly $70 million. During the months of March and April, Florida is the major domestic supplier of fresh blueberries. The University of Florida (UF) blueberry breeding program has had a major contribution to the rapid expansion of the Florida industry, with an estimated 95% of current production from cultivars developed at UF. However, future expansion of this industry will depend on how well our producers can adapt to a decreasing labor force, increasing costs of establishment and production, and ongoing environmental concerns. Maintaining a competitive and sustainable blueberry industry in Florida requires the continued development of improved cultivars specifically designed to meet these challenges. Objective 1: Identifying, characterizing, and exploiting desirable traits of Vaccinium species through breeding to increase the production efficiency and profitability of Florida blueberry growers Germplasm developed during the reporting period resulted from 186 different hybridizations utilizing Vaccinium corymbosum, V. darrowii, V. elliottii, V. arboreum, V. stamineum and various interspecific hybrids between the species. Nearly 200 clonally propagated advanced selections identified during the 2014 season were planted during 2015 for evaluation, and 20 genotypes were identified for advancement into final-stage selection. From 2014 crosses, over 18,000 seedlings were planted for evaluation. Grower-cooperator trials established in locations ranging from south Georgia to south-central Florida were used to evaluate advanced selections in different environments for vegetative and fruit quality performance. Six blueberry cultivars and selections were evaluated at four different harvest dates for total sugars, organic acids, and volatile aroma content. Consumer taste panels ranked liking for each harvest date. We continued to evaluate hybrids between V. corymbosum and V. arboreum plants for pollen fertility, vegetative, and reproductive characteristics, and fruit quality. Two backcross populations between these hybrids and cultivated southern highbush cultivars were evaluated for fruit quality. We continued collaboration with the USDA-ARS group in Fort Pierce, FL to assess blueberry fruit texture by trained consumer panels. Our current focus is to evaluate the postharvest longevity of advanced selections prior to release. Based on these results, four cultivars were released to southeastern growers. 'FL98-325' (marketed as 'Indigocrisp') was one of the top performers in more northern trial locations, and is particularly suited for machine harvest and fresh marketing production strategies. 'FL06-203', 'FL07-399', and 'FL06-377' (marketed as 'Avanti', 'Arcadia', and 'Endura') were released largely based on their performance in production regions south of the Interstate 4 corridor in Florida. These three cultivars can be grown under and evergreen management system with high early yields in this region of Florida. Objective 2: Increasing blueberry breeding efficiency through application of molecular technologies Activities during the reporting period primarily focused on continuing evaluations of introgression from V. arboreum (sparkleberry) into the cultivated southern highbush blueberry (SHB) genome. A set of simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers were used to detemine the extent of tetrasomic chromosome pairing among SHB x V. arboreum hybrids. The low level of tetrasomic pairing evident in these crosses indicated that traits specific to V. arboreum should be monitored closely during selection to maintain V. arboreum alleles in subsequent germplasm. A genetic linkage and quantitative trait loci (QTL) map were developed in a backcross population between SHB and V. arboreum to identify marker-trait associations that could be used as an aid in selection, particularly for root-associated traits where phenotypic data collection is difficult.

Publications

• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Gilbert, J.L., E.Q. Dreyer, T.A. Colquhoun, C.A. Sims, D.G. Clark, and J.W. Olmstead. 2014. Effects of location and harvest time on sensory properties of southern highbush blueberries. HortScience 49(9):S191.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Rodriguez-Armenta, H.P. and J.W. Olmstead. 2014. Analysis of the other half: Root morphology of a segregating backcross population between Vaccinium corymbosum and V. arboreum. HortScience 49(9):S405-S406.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Blaker, K.M. and J.W. Olmstead. 2015. Cell wall composition of the skin and flesh tissue of crisp and standard texture southern highbush blueberry genotypes. Journal of Berry Research 5:9-15.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Kovaleski, A.P., J.G. Williamson, J.W. Olmstead, and R.L. Darnell. 2015. Inflorescence bud initiation, development, and bloom in two southern highbush blueberry cultivars. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 140:38-44.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Gilbert, J.L., M.J. Guthart, S.A. Gezan, M. Pisaroglo de Carvalho, M.L. Schwieterman, T.A. Colquhoun, L.M. Bartoshuk, C.A. Sims, D.G. Clark, and J.W. Olmstead. 2015. Identifying breeding priorities for blueberry flavor using biochemical, sensory, and genotype by environment analyses. PLOS ONE 10(9):e0138494. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0138494.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Olmstead, J.W., R.A. Itle, S.R. Marino, D.E. Norden, and W.R. Collante. 2015. Floral bud chill requirement of low-chill southern highbush blueberry germplasm. Journal of the American Pomological Society 69:4-10.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Blaker, K., A. Plotto, E. Baldwin, and J.W. Olmstead. 2014. Correlation between sensory and instrumental measurements of standard and crisp texture southern highbush blueberries. Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture 94:2785-2793.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Blaker, K.M. and J.W. Olmstead. 2014. Stone cell frequency and cell size variation of crisp and standard texture southern highbush blueberry fruit. Journal of the American Society for Horticultural Science 139:553-557.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Gilbert, J.L., J.W. Olmstead, T.A. Colquhoun, L.A. Levin, D.G. Clark, and H.R. Moskowitz. 2014. Consumer-assisted selection of blueberry fruit quality traits. HortScience 49:864-873.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Marino, S.R., J.G. Williamson, J.W. Olmstead, and P.F. Harmon. 2014. Vegetative growth of three southern highbush blueberry cultivars obtained from micropropagation and softwood cuttings in two Florida locations. HortScience 49:556-561.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Olmstead, J.W. and C.E. Finn. 2014. Breeding highbush blueberry cultivars adapted to machine harvest for the fresh market. HortTechnology 24:290-294.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Wright, A.F., P.F. Harmon, and J.W. Olmstead. 2014. Screening southern highbush blueberry genotypes for Botryosphaeria stem blight. Journal of the American Pomological Society 68:209-213.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Blaker, K.M. and J.W. Olmstead. 2014. Effects of preharvest applications of 1-methylcyclopropene on fruit firmness in southern highbush blueberry. Acta Horticulturae 1017:71-75.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Finn, C.E., J.W. Olmstead, J.F. Hancock, and D.M. Brazelton. 2014. Welcome to the party! Blueberry breeding mixes private and public with traditional and molecular to create a vibrant new cocktail. Acta Horticulturae 1017:51-62.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Olmstead, J.W. 2014. UF blueberry variety update. The Blueberry News 4(1):16-18.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Olmstead, J. 2015. Evergreen with envy. Florida Grower 108(10):4-6.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Olmstead, J.W., K.M. Blaker, D.E. Norden, and W.R. Collante. 2015. Breeding southern highbush blueberries suitable for machine harvest for fresh marketing  progress and prospects. Proceedings of the 2014 North American Blueberry Research and Extension Workers Conference http://dx.doi.org/doi:10.7282/T318385V.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Conlan, E., M. Olmstead, J.W. Olmstead, J. Williamson, D.J. Chavez, E. Smith, O. Lindstrom, and J. Liu. 2015. An analysis of historical freeze events and determination of blueberry and peach critical bud temperatures to aid growers in freeze-related risk assessments. HortScience 50(9): S364-365.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Gilbert, J.L., S.A. Gezan, M. Pisaroglo de Carvalho, T.A. Colquhoun, C.A. Sims, D.G. Clark, J.W. Olmstead, and M.L. Schwieterman. 2015. Blueberry flavor biochemistry. HortScience 50(9):S121-S122.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Lin, Y.-C., R. Reid, L.J. Rowland, N. Bassil, J.W. Olmstead, B. Phillips, A. Thomas, D. Nonnemacher, M.A. Lila, and A. Brown. 2015. A functional, consensus linkage map of blueberry and cranberry. HortScience 50(9):S326-327.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Nunez, G.H., R. Darnell, and J.W. Olmstead. 2015. Microbial iron reduction: A secondary source of Fe2+ in the southern highbush blueberry rhizosphere. HortScience 50(9):S123.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2015 Citation: Rodriguez-Armenta, H.P. and J.W. Olmstead. 2015. Linkage and QTL analysis of a tetraploid interspecific pseudo-backcross between Vaccinium corymbosum and V. arboreum. HortScience 50(9):S136.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Nunez, G.H., J.W. Olmstead and R.L. Darnell. 2014. Plant-microbe partnerships in the southern highbush blueberry rhizosphere: The case of iron nutrition. HortScience 49(9):S154-S155.
• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2014 Citation: Olmstead, J.W. 2014. Indigocrisp promises to deliver plenty of pop. Florida Grower 107(10):4.