Strawberry fruit shape: quantification by image analysis and QTL detection by genome-wide association analysis.

Fruit shape of cultivated strawberry ( × Duch.) is an important breeding target. To detect genomic regions associated with this trait, its quantitative evaluation is needed.

Development and characterization of a strawberry MAGIC population derived from crosses with six strawberry cultivars.

A strawberry Multi-parent Advanced Generation Intercrosses (MAGIC) population, derived from crosses using six strawberry cultivars was successfully developed. The population was composed of 338 individuals; genome conformation was evaluated by expressed sequence tag-derived simple short repeat (EST-SSR) markers. Cluster analysis and principal component analysis (PCA) based on EST-SSR marker polymorphisms revealed that the MAGIC population was a mosaic of the six founder cultivars and covered the genomic regions of the six founders evenly.