Specialty Crops Research Initiative (SCRI)

Short URL for this page: https://vcru.wisc.edu/scriwiki/scri_2016_to_2020

Title: Identifying phenotypes, markers, and genes in carrot germplasm to deliver improved carrots to growers and consumers
Award Number: 2016-51181-25400
Period of Performance: 09/01/2016 through 08/31/2020
Agency: USDA-NIFA-SCRI (USDA-National Institute of Food and Agriculture-Specialty Crop Research Initiative)

Non-Technical Summary

The traditional orange carrot is the richest plant source of provitamin A in the U.S. diet and one of the most widely consumed and nutritious vegetables in the world, but in spite of the known health benefits attributable to carrots and other vegetables, the 2010 Dietary Guidelines for Americans indicated that vitamin A is under consumed, and overall vegetable consumption is less than 40% of that recommended by nutritionists. A survey of carrot stakeholders was conducted and a meeting was held to identify key traits important for improved carrot quality and productivity. This effort revealed that the carrot industry needs breeding stocks and genomic tools that can be used to develop carrots with improved field performance including disease and pest resistance, and abiotic stress tolerance; and improved flavor and nutritional quality to better meet consumer needs. Given this critical stakeholder input, the goals of this project are to

  1. Phenotype diverse carrot germplasm and breeding stocks to discover and characterize previously uncharacterized variation for traits important for improving carrots for the US market
  2. Develop an expanded carrot genomic and phenotypic database for breeders to catalogue genomic variation and track genes underlying important traits
  3. Initiate the development of breeding pools from diverse germplasm and breeding stocks that include alleles for improved crop production and consumer quality traits, and test them on-farm with growers and for flavor and nutritional value for consumers
  4. Evaluate the market value and impact of carrot traits on grower and consumer decisions.

Presentations

Progress