October 26, 2022
Introduction:
Read more here: https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/969288(EurekAlert) ITHACA, N.Y. – A team of researchers has sequenced the Honeycrisp apple genome, a boon for scientists and breeders working with this popular and economically important cultivar.
Sequenced with state-of-the-art technologies, the genome – available open-sourced for anyone to access – provides a valuable resource for understanding the genetic basis of important traits in apples and other tree fruit species, which can be used to enhance breeding efforts, according to the paper.
The U.S. apple industry is worth $23 billion annually, and Honeycrisp is its most valuable cultivar, bringing growers roughly twice the value per pound than the second-most valuable cultivar, Fuji. Due to its favorable traits, including crispness, flavor, cold-hardiness and resistance to apple scab fungal disease, breeders have used Honeycrisp as a parent in nine new cultivars on the market, including the Cornell University-developed Snapdragon.