Raspberry

To our knowledge there has been no updated version on the book of Jennings D.L. 1988 (Raspberries and blackberries: their breeding, diseases and growth, London: Academic Press) covering red raspberry particularly with the advancements in the use of molecular tools to improve our understanding of improving crop quality and fruit yields. Recently a wealth of fundamental genomics and metabolomics resources have been developed for soft fruits including linkage maps, physical maps, QTLs and expression tools. However, a number of challenges exist for the industry including the plants ability to resist major pest and disease burdens and the impact of climate change on crop production, specifically water use and water availability for soft fruit crops. This book aims to address some of these challenges by updating the information known about this genus, the major pest and diseases which affect raspberry, and the speed and precision offered by selective breeding programs by the deployment of molecular tools and linkage maps for germplasm assessment. Understanding the genetic control of commercially and nutritionally important traits and the linkage of these characteristics to molecular markers on chromosomes is the future of plant breeding. We will also introduce the opportunity to fast track breeding by improving the speed of phenotypic selection by utilizing imaging sensor technologies, thereby reducing the cost of years of field assessment through developing this knowledge into markers linked to key fruit traits. The chapters of this book will span the knowledge gained from the collaborations between growers, plant breeders, plant physiologists, soil scientists, geneticists, agronomists, marketing companies and multiple retailers which is essential to achieve progress in improving productivity and a sustainable industry.