Germplasm collections (a.k.a. gene banks) are a crucial resource to conserve natural genetic diversity and provide a source of novel traits for crop improvement such as disease and pest resistance, increased yield, and improved fruit quality. Optimal collection, preservation and utilization of these resources depends upon knowledge of the genetic variation present within the collection. High-throughput, high resolution, genetic characterization of the complete cucumber germplasm collection (~1200 accessions) maintained by the US National Plant Germplasm System was performed by genotyping by sequencing (GBS). These data were used to understand genetic relationships among the accessions, develop a genetically-informed core collection, and identify genomic regions associated with valuable traits.
Read the Article:
- The USDA cucumber (Cucumis sativus L.) collection: genetic diversity, population structure, genome-wide association studies, and core collection development
By: Xin Wang, Kan Bao, Umesh K. Reddy, Yang Bai, Sue A. Hammar, Chen Jiao, Todd C. Wehner, Axel O. Ramírez-Madera, Yiqun Weng, Rebecca Grumet & Zhangjun Fei
Published in Horticulture Research in September 2018
DOI: 10.1038/s41438-018-0080-8
