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Article|20 Nov 2024|OPEN
Integrative multi-environmental genomic prediction in apple 
Michaela Jung1,2 , , Carles Quesada-Traver2 , Morgane Roth3 , Maria José Aranzana4,5 , Hélène Muranty6 , Marijn Rymenants7,8 , Walter Guerra9 , Elias Holzknecht9 , Nicole Pradas4 , Lidia Lozano5 , Frédérique Didelot10 , François Laurens6 and Steven Yates2 , Bruno Studer2 , Giovanni A.L. Broggini2 , Andrea Patocchi,1
1Fruit Breeding, Agroscope, Mueller-Thurgau-Strasse 29, 8820 Waedenswil, Switzerland
2Molecular Plant Breeding, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, ETH Zurich, Universitaetstrasse 2, 8092 Zurich, Switzerland
3INRAE, Research Unit for Genetics and Improvement of Fruit and Vegetable (GAFL), 67 Allée des Chênes, 84143 Montfavet, France
4Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) CSIC-IRTA-UAB-UB, Campus UAB, Bellaterra, 08193 Barcelona, Spain
5IRTA (Institut de Recerca i Tecnologia Agroalimentàries), Caldes de Montbui, 08140 Barcelona, Spain
6Univ Angers, Institut Agro, INRAE, IRHS, SFR QUASAV, F-49000 Angers, France
7Better3fruit N.V., Steenberg 36, 3202 Rillaar, Belgium
8Laboratory for Plant Genetics and Crop Improvement, Division of Crop Biotechnics, Department of Biosystems, University of Leuven, Willem de Croylaan 42 - bus 2427, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
9Research Centre Laimburg, Institute for Fruit Growing and Viticulture, Laimburg 1, 39040 Auer, Italy
10Unité expérimentale Horticole, INRAE, F-49000 Angers, France
*Corresponding author. E-mail: michaela.jung@agroscope.admin.ch

Horticulture Research 12,
Article number: uhae319 (2025)
doi: https://doi.org/10.1093/hr/uhae319
Views: 1585

Received: 19 Jun 2024
Accepted: 07 Nov 2024
Published online: 20 Nov 2024

Abstract

Genomic prediction for multiple environments can aid the selection of genotypes suited to specific soil and climate conditions. Methodological advances allow effective integration of phenotypic, genomic (additive, nonadditive), and large-scale environmental (enviromic) data into multi-environmental genomic prediction models. These models can also account for genotype-by-environment interaction, utilize alternative relationship matrices (kernels), or substitute statistical approaches with deep learning. However, the application of multi-environmental genomic prediction in apple remained limited, likely due to the challenge of building multi-environmental datasets and structurally complex models. Here, we applied efficient statistical and deep learning models for multi-environmental genomic prediction of eleven apple traits with contrasting genetic architectures by integrating genomic- and enviromic-based model components. Incorporating genotype-by-environment interaction effects into statistical models improved predictive ability by up to 0.08 for nine traits compared to the benchmark model. This outcome, based on Gaussian and Deep kernels, shows these alternatives can effectively substitute the standard genomic best linear unbiased predictor (G-BLUP). Including nonadditive and enviromic-based effects resulted in a predictive ability very similar to the benchmark model. The deep learning approach achieved the highest predictive ability for three traits with oligogenic genetic architectures, outperforming the benchmark by up to 0.10. Our results demonstrate that the tested statistical models capture genotype-by-environment interactions particularly well, and the deep learning models efficiently integrate data from diverse sources. This study will foster the adoption of multi-environmental genomic prediction to select apple cultivars adapted to diverse environmental conditions, providing an opportunity to address climate change impacts.