OVERVIEW OF THE USDA-ARS HOP MOLECULAR BREEDING PROGRAM

Abstract

The overall objective of the USDA-ARS hop (Humulus lupulus L.) is to develop and release disease resistant, superior hop germplasm and varieties for the USA hop industry using both traditional and molecular-based selection protocols. As part of this mission, USDA-ARS develops new means of breeding to increase selection efficiency in breeding new hop varieties. Conventional quantitative genetic studies were pursued from 1996-2004 while molecular approaches have been more recent. These molecular approaches have been used to quantify genetic diversity between male and female accessions, identifying superior parents and superior mating pairs and more recently to identify molecular markers to be used in selection. Most recently, the USDA-ARS along with researchers from several other countries, are pursuing the sequencing of the complete hop genome with hopes of identifying regions controlling important traits in hop production. These studies involve next generation sequencing coupled with modern biometrics to assemble and align the hop genome.