RESEARCH AND EXTENSION INITIATIVE FOR CRANBERRY AND BLUEBERRY: CURRENT AND FUTURE NEEDS

• Sponsoring Institution: National Institute of Food and Agriculture
• Project Status: COMPLETE
• Funding Source: OTHER GRANTS
• Reporting Frequency: Annual
• Accession No.: 1009968
• Grant No.: 2016-51181-25401
• Cumulative Award Amt.: $46,956.00
• Proposal No.: 2016-04932
• Project Start Date: Sep 1, 2016
• Project End Date: Aug 31, 2018
• Grant Year: 2016
• Program Code: [SCRI]- Specialty Crop Research Initiative

Recipient Organization
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIV
(N/A)
RALEIGH,NC 27695

Performing Department
Horticulture

Non Technical Summary
North America is by far the world's leading producer of blueberries and cranberries, $370 million and $254 million, respectively, in U.S. alone (NASS, 2015) and consumers demand for fruit continues to increase. Stakeholders need more research support to sustain the increasing product demand of this dynamic industry, expansion into new production regions and changing consumer preferences. The blueberry and cranberry research priority lists developed by commodity commissions and grower associations placed a high priority on cultivar development with the expectation that collaborative efforts with other disciplines (plant pathology, entomology, food science, horticulture) would be more efficient to resolve long term problems (For more details see section iii.1 and iv of the full proposal).A lack of financial resources has limited the establishment of a formal coordinated working group in North America that can develop interdisciplinary research activities for cranberry and blueberry to address critical needs (For more details see section v.1 of the full proposal). This project will define planning efforts to enlarge the genetic, genomic and phenotypic resources of blueberry and cranberry, and develop tools to accelerate the selection of improved cultivars. Efforts supported by the USDA-NIFA in the Rosaceae and Solanaceae families, that coordinate breeding and genomics-based approaches have been highly successful. However, this coordinated approach is lacking in Vaccinium.

Animal Health Component

(N/A)

Research Effort Categories

Basic

(N/A)

Applied

(N/A)

Developmental

(N/A)

Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)	Subject of Investigation (SOI)	Field of Science (FOS)	Percent
202	1120	1081	50%
202	1121	1081	50%

Knowledge Area
202 - Plant Genetic Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
1120 - Blueberry; 1121 - Cranberry;

Field Of Science
1081 - Breeding;

Keywords

blueberry

breeding

cranberry

genomic

outreach

phenotyping

Goals / Objectives
The overall goal of this project is to identify and coordinate research priorities and breeding trait targets based on the various industry sectors and further integrate genomic/phenotypic data to develop a sustainable technical platform to accelerate and increase the efficiency of cultivar development and adoption. The potential of genomic approaches to enhance crop improvement, particularly through genomic selection, is enormous. Genomics research has not yet been translated into routine practical breeding application in cranberry or blueberry breeding. Their shared ancestry can be harnessed to leverage knowledge and resources across commodity boundaries via comparative genomics. This project will also identify priorities for extension activities that are integrated with identified research priorities to enable dissemination and rapid adoption of research results. A large research community currently working on cranberry and blueberry will be united for the first time to work towards the development of coordinated research objectives that will lead to application for a future SCRI-NIFA CAP grant proposal and empower research towards accelerated development of novel germplasm to meet industry and consumer needs.

Project Methods
Pre-Planning Meeting and Stakeholder Engagement. We will survey the following groups: cranberry and blueberry breeding programs (private and public), nurseries, state and federal commodity commissions, growers, processors and packers. We will use a web survey using Qualtrics™ to survey all groups. To procure email addresses -for the breeding community, nurseries, state and federal commodity commissions, processors and packers -, we will conduct an intensive web search and will use input from participating CoPIs. The primary goal of the survey will be to identify in more detail the critical breeding needs. A team of scientists and practitioners from different disciplines will define the precise pieces of information - including research priorities from the different commodity commissions across the nation, and inputs from breeding and nursery industries - to be sought via the survey, as well as the appropriate wording for the questions and the ranking criteria. The interactions of this team will happen via a series of teleconferences and electronic correspondence iterations. The team will include breeders, commodity commission representatives, and an applied economist. To send the web survey to 14 individual growers across different states, we will work closely with state and federal commodity commissions and rely on their electronic mailing lists to distribute the links to our web survey. This survey is intended to provide an accurate need assessment while ensuring the anonymity of respondents in order to encourage uncensored responses. To guarantee a good response rate (e.g., no less than 30%), we will use an endorsed letter from the most reputable associations in blueberries and cranberries across the nation and we will use the three-wave-method of survey, reminder, and survey. In addition, members of the team participating in this grant will present the initiative to the grower association meetings organized in their respective states. Co-PI KG, along with a graduate student in economics, will analyze the data obtained from surveys and will prepare reports to all interested parties and for a presentation at the planning meeting.Proposed Agenda for the Planning Meeting. Stakeholders, research, outreach and extension personnel will convene for a two day meeting at the North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis (NC) to discuss the results of the survey, and identify the research activities and objectives that will form the foundation of a 2017 (or 2018) SCRI SREP or CAP application. Considering a start date of this project on October 1st 2016, it is anticipated that this meeting will take place in May 2017. As discussed by our team, a six-month timeframe will provide enough time to complete the pre-planning meeting activities (survey and stakeholders engagement) and post-meeting activities. It is anticipated the meeting will involve 29 participants, including the 24 members of this team (PD, Co-PD's and Key Personnel) and five representatives of private industry (to be invited).Method of announcement or invitation that will be used. Collectively, our project planning team is well connected with these industry groups and we will be able to identify key participants for the planning meeting. Because the size of a successful planning meeting cannot accommodate direct participation by every interested member of the cranberry and blueberry community, we intend to participate in established regional and national cranberry and blueberry commodity meetings throughout the winter 2016-2017 and spring 2017. Members of our planning project team will be charged with attending the meetings, to disseminate the objectives of our initiative including the survey and to collect ideas and input. To engage breeders and molecular geneticists from private industry, our team will gather a list of possible contacts and personally contact them via email or phone. We will identify stakeholders involved in blueberry and cranberry breeding and production and personally invite those individuals to participate in the meeting.Post planing meeting. The planning grant PD and collaborators (Co-PD and Key Personnel) will interact via email and conference calls to generate a consensus document synthesizing the outcomes of the primary planning meeting. A second planning meeting (virtual meeting using AT&T Connect GoToMeeting software) with key project participants will be held to outline: a) the type of SCRI project to be developed (CAP or SREP); b) identify any gaps in expertise that will be needed to execute the project and fill those gaps; c) identify the Project Director and any Co-PDs and key personnel; d) develop a timeline for grant writing and delegate writing assignments; e) complete any reporting requirements for the planning grant.After this second planning meeting, additional conference calls and one-on-one phone calls between the PD and key participants will occur as needed, to continue the discussions and to coordinate the grant writing.

Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Blueberry and cranberry breeding industry, small fruits nurseries, grower associations, food supply chain, plant science community, extension specialists. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?- Trained twoPhD students on survey data management and analysis; - Trained a Post-doc and research associates on scientific meeting organization; How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?The results of the project were disseminated through summary reports distributed to commodity groups and industry boards,the Vaccinium Project Webpage, presentations to the annual meeting, two national and internationl conferences and grower association meetings, and twopeer reviewed manuscripts.Project Co-PIs have alsohighlighted thecranberry breeding priorities identified in this projectin the cranberry vulnerability report released by the Small Fruit Germoplasm Commitee (Hummer et al., 2018, https://www.ars-grin.gov/npgs/cgc_reports/cranberry_vulnerability_statement_2017.pdf) and in a cranberry genetics perr reviewedmanuscript(Vorsa and Zalapa, 2019, Plant Breedign Review, in press). Discussion around the survey results, among scientists and industry representatives established the foundation to develop the objectives of a project proposalentitled:VacciniumCAP: Leveraging genetic and genomic resources to enable development of blueberry and cranberry cultivars with improved fruit quality attributes. The pre-application for USDA-NIFA SCRI program was distributed to 16and 8 commodity groupand industry boards which are supportingthe project. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals? Nothing Reported

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Use of accurate high-throughput DNA and phenotyping analysis for crop improvement has proven to be a cost-effective strategy for crop improvement programs. Such an approach is lacking in blueberry and cranberry, making the breeding of these crops a long process (10-20 years) and limiting efficient selection of new cultivars that integrate multiple high value traits. Establishment and application of advanced DNA technologies requires extensive training, knowledge and significant investments. For this reason, it is critical to identify and focus research activities on genetic traits of maximum value and establish a coordinated interdisciplinary working group that can develop such an integrated approach. This project identifies breeding trait priorities in the U.S. cranberry and highbush blueberry industries and establishes a road map for the research community to seek funding for supporting these industries. Based on our recent survey, over 490 industry representatives signaled that development of cultivars with improved fruit quality, particularly fruit firmness, flavor/taste, shelf life, color and size is a high priority for continued success. Responses were collected from twelve blueberry and cranberry industry meetings in the major production regions in U.S and Canada, making these results the most representative dataset of blueberry and cranberry stakeholder breeding trait priorities, globally. The results of the survey were disseminated to stakeholders through summary reports, a Project Webpage, presentations to conferences and grower association meetings andtwo peer reviewed manuscripts. Results were also presented at the Vaccinium planning meeting and established the groundwork to continue the team planning activities. The planning meeting hosted representatives of the blueberry and cranberry industry and a trans-disciplinary team of 26 scientists was held, who presented on socio-economic challenges and perspectives on breeding and production, and participated in working groups to identify feasible research projects around identified high priority breeding traits. Stakeholder representatives confirmed that it is critical to develop genomic tools that can be used to assist breeding programs to select for high value traits including fruit quality. Outcomes of the working group discussions indicated that several trans-disciplinary projects aroundhigh-priority fruit quality traits are feasible. These accomplishments provided a rational to strategically plan research activities to support the U.S. blueberry and cranberry industries. These stakeholders are the global leaders through the entire blueberry and cranberry commercial chain from cultivar development to production, processing and distribution. Blueberry and cranberry products provide vital contributions to human nutrition and health, while their production value (exceeding $1 billion) is the economic backbone of many rural communities in the U.S. Although production and consumption of these crops continues to expand in domestic and export markets, this industry is facing numerous challenges to profitability and sustainability. U.S. cranberry and highbush blueberry stakeholders signaled breeding cultivars with improved fruit quality as a high priority, with the expectation that collaborative efforts across disciplines (breeding, genetics, genomics, food science, socio economics, post-harvest physiology, engineering, horticulture) would be more efficient to resolve long-term problems. The outcomes of this project, established the foundation to develop the objectives of a Coordinated Agricultural Projects (CAP) project that seek funding to enable a multistate, trans-disciplinary research team to develop DNA and precise high-throughput phenotyping tools to routinely and efficiently use to select blueberry and cranberry cultivars with improved fruit quality traits.

Publications

• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Gallardo R.K, Q. Zhang, M. Dossett, J. Polashock, C.Rodriguez-Saona, N. Vorsa, P.P. Edger, H. Ashrafi, E. Babiker, C.E. Finn and M. Iorizzo. 2018. Breeding Trait Priorities of the Blueberry Industry in the United States and Canada. HortScience, 53:1021-1028. Issue cover.
• Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Gallardo R.K., Q. Zhang, J. Polashock, A. Atucha, J. Zalapa, C. Rodriguez-Saona, N. Vorsa, and M. Iorizzo. 2018. Breeding Trait Priorities of the Cranberry Industry in the United States and Canada. HortScience, 53:1467-1474.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: M. Iorizzo, R.K. Gallardo, P. Edger, J. Polashock, C. Rodriguez-Soana, J. Zalapa, A. Atucha, H. Ashrafi, E. Babiker, P.R. Munoz, N. Bassil, M.A. Lila, C. Li, L. Giongo, P. Perkins-Veazie, N. Vorsa and C. Finn. Building a Vaccinium Community to Advance Blueberry and Cranberry Breeding Programs in US. XXVI Plant & Animal Genome, January 13-17, 2018, San Diego, California, USA. Poster P0662
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2018 Citation: M. Iorizzo, H. Bostan, R. Aryal, Q. Xinpeng, M.F. Mengist, J. Rowland, H. Ashrafi. Genome and genomic tools in northern and southern blueberry. Blueberry Europe, conference, November 12-14, 2018, Trento, Italy.
• Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: M. Iorizzo. Towards Developing a Chromosome Scale Reference Genome Sequence of Blueberry. XXVI Plant & Animal Genome, January 13-17, 2018, San Diego, California, USA. Abstract W434.

Progress 09/01/16 to 08/31/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Blueberry and cranberry breeding industry, small fruits nurseries, grower associations, food supply chain, plant science community, extension, consumers. Changes/Problems:- the schdule of blueberry and cranberry grower assocaitons meetings in the fall 2016-spirng 2017 has delayed survey data collection and analysis delaying the subsequent planning activities. For this reason we requested a one year project extension. What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?- Trained students in data tabulation; cross tabulation of results, report survey results, limited dependent variables analyses; - Trained a Post-doc and a Research Associate on survey preparation and organizing a scientific meeting, How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?- Two manuscripts summarizing survey data results are under preparation; - Summary statistic reports to distribute to blueberry and cranberry grower association boards are being prepared; What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?- complete manuscripts; - identify obejctives and plan research activities for a full SCRI proposal submission; -prepare and submit a full SCRI proposal;

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? - Collected over 491 survey responses from blueberry and cranberry growers, nurseries and processing/packing operations.Industry responses, in general, signaled that for both blueberry and cranberry the most important cluster of traits are those that can improve fruit quality characteristics that affect price premiums the grower receives, can positively drive consumer demand and increse effectively use mechiazed system for fruit harvest and processing. This dataset represent the largest collection of blueberry and cranberry stakeholder breeding trait needs in US and globally. The outcome of this survey established a rational strategy to further support funding requests for research projects that focus on developing genetic and genomics resources to select for traits that are relevant to stakeholders; - Discussion among blueberry and cranberry breeders and allied scientists led to identification of potential objectives and projects for developing a full SCRI proposal;

Publications

• Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Blueberry survey seeks industry input on breeding needs. 2017. Fruit Growers News, Volume 56, Issue 3.