Deducing genotypes for loci of interest from SNP array data via haplotype sharing, demonstrated for apple and cherry

Breeders, collection curators, and other germplasm users require genetic information, both genome-wide and locus-specific, to effectively manage their genetically diverse plant material. SNP arrays have become the preferred platform to provide genome-wide genetic profiles for elite germplasm and could also provide locus-specific genotypic information. However, genotypic information for loci of interest such as those within PCR-based DNA fingerprinting panels and trait-predictive DNA tests is not readily extracted from SNP array data, thus creating a disconnect between historic and new data sets. This study aimed to establish a method for deducing genotypes at loci of interest from their associated SNP haplotypes, demonstrated for two fruit crops and three locus types: quantitative trait loci Ma and Ma3 for acidity in apple, apple fingerprinting microsatellite marker GD12, and Mendelian trait locus Rf for sweet cherry fruit color. Using phased data from an apple 8K SNP array and sweet cherry 6K SNP array, unique haplotypes spanning each target locus were associated with alleles of important breeding parents. These haplotypes were compared via identity-by-descent (IBD) or identity-by-state (IBS) to haplotypes present in germplasm important to U.S. apple and cherry breeding programs to deduce target locus alleles in this germplasm. While IBD segments were confidently tracked through pedigrees, confidence in allele identity among IBS segments used a shared length threshold. At least one allele per locus was deduced for 64-93% of the 181 individuals. Successful validation compared deduced Rf and GD12 genotypes with reported and newly obtained genotypes. Our approach can efficiently merge and expand genotypic data sets, deducing missing data and identifying errors, and is appropriate for any crop with SNP array data and historic genotypic data sets, especially where linkage disequilibrium is high. Locus-specific genotypic information extracted from genome-wide SNP data is expected to enhance confidence in management of genetic resources.