** AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** APPLES ARE THE MOST CONSUMED FRUIT IN AMERICA, AND AN APPLE A DAY KEEPS THE DOCTOR AWAY HAS BOTH ANECDOTAL AND SCIENTIFIC BACKING. THE COMMERCIAL IMPORTANCE OF APPLES HAS LED TO VARIETAL IMPROVEMENT; HOWEVER, PROGRESS IS LIMITED BY A LONG JUVENILE PERIOD, DELAYING FRUIT EVALUATION FOR TRAITS OF INTEREST. AS A RESULT, APPLE BREEDERS HAVE IMPLEMENTED GENOMICS APPROACHES TO ENHANCE SELECTION FOR SOME TRAITS, BUT STRATEGIES FOR NUTRITIONALLY RELEVANT PHYTOCHEMICALS ARE LACKING. WE HAVE DEVELOPED A PLATFORM FOR GENOME-METABOLOME INTEGRATION TO BETTER UNDERSTAND MARKER-METABOLITE RELATIONSHIPS IN APPLE FRUIT AND USED IT TO DISCOVER A STRONG ASSOCIATION BETWEEN CHLOROGENIC ACID CONTENT IN FRUIT AND A REGION ON CHROMOSOME 17. WE AIM TO CONDUCT THE FOUNDATIONAL PLANT SCIENCE NEEDED TO CREATE WELL CHARACTERIZED AND DIVERGENT APPLE GERMPLASM FOR FUTURE NUTRITIONAL TESTING IN ANIMAL STUDIES AND HUMAN CLINICAL TRIALS. IN OBJECTIVE 1, WE WILL SCREEN DIVERSE APPLE GERMPLASM TO UNDERSTAND VARIATION IN CHLOROGENIC ACID AND OTHER PHENOLICS ACROSS CULTIVATED AND WILD APPLES. IN OBJECTIVE 2, WE WILL REFINE OUR KNOWLEDGE ON GENETIC CONTROL OF CHLOROGENIC ACID AND PHENOLICS IN APPLE FRUIT BY COMBINING WHOLE GENOME SEQUENCING, TRANSCRIPTOMICS, AND PHYTOCHEMICAL QUANTITATIVE ANALYSIS. IN OBJECTIVE 3, WE WILL DEVELOP AN UNDERSTANDING OF THE INHERITANCE AND GENETIC COMPONENTS INVOLVED IN CHLOROGENIC ACID AND PHENOLIC CONTENT IN APPLE FRUITS USING TRANSGENIC APPLE GERMPLASM WITH REDUCED JUVENILITY. OUR INTERDISCIPLINARY TEAM WITH EXPERTISE IN APPLE DIVERSITY AND GERMPLASM EVALUATION, FRUIT GENETICS AND GENOMICS, PHYTOCHEMICAL ANALYSIS, BIOINFORMATICS, AND HUMAN NUTRITION HAS THE UNIQUE EXPERTISE TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT WE DESCRIBE.

Ohio State University, The, Columbus OH

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