FruitPhenoBox - a device for rapid and automated fruit phenotyping of small sample sizes.

Background: Fruit appearance of apple (Malus domestica Borkh.) is accession-specific and one of the main criteria for consumer choice. Consequently, fruit appearance is an important selection criterion in the breeding of new cultivars.

The genetic basis of apple shape and size unraveled by digital phenotyping.

Great diversity of shape, size, and skin color is observed among the fruits of different apple genotypes. These traits are critical for consumers and therefore interesting targets for breeding new apple varieties. However, they are difficult to phenotype and their genetic basis, especially for fruit shape and ground color, is largely unknown.