Advent of Genomics in Blueberry

Abstract

Blueberry is a high value crop with recognized nutritional characteristics that has lead to an increase in consumer demand over the last several years. With its increasing agricultural and commercial importance, genetic and genomic tools have recently become available for use in characterizing its genetic diversity and in molecular breeding strategies. Here, we provide an overview of genomic research in blueberry, with a focus on EST/ transcriptome sequencing efforts. These resources are already providing novel insights into various biological processes from large-scale expression studies like microarrays, elucidation of phylogenetic relationships, and development of molecular markers and genetic linkage maps. Future blueberry breeding programs should benefit greatly from these new genomic tools.