Leveraging genetic resources and genomic prediction to enhance flavonol content in cranberry fruit

American cranberry fruit (Vaccinium macrocarpon Ait.) are rich in flavonols, a subgroup of flavonoids that contribute to human health and plant stress resilience. Despite their importance, the genetic diversity and potential for improvement of flavonols in cranberry remain underexplored. We analyzed phenotypic and genetic variation for eight flavonol compounds in a genetically diverse germplasm collection (n = 247) over two years. Myricetin-3-galactoside, quercetin-3-galactoside, quercetin-3-rhamnoside (Q3Rha), and quercetin-3-arabinofuranoside represented 87% of total flavonol content (TFC) in cranberry fruit, with TFC ranging from 0.17 to 0.75 mg/g FW. Wild and landrace accessions in the Rutgers cranberry collection exhibited higher genetic variation and breedability for flavonols than the breeding subgroup. We identified a stable locus on chromosome 3 associated with Q3Rha, explaining 15.8–19.7% of the genetic variance. Genomic prediction models for TFC exhibited predictive ability v..., , , # Leveraging genetic resources and genomic prediction to enhance flavonol content in cranberry fruit

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw45](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.7wm37pw45)

## Description of the data and file structure

**Supplemental Table S1.** Rutgers cranberry germplasm collection (n = 247), including 103 wild, 118 native selections or landraces, 16 cultivars, and 10 breeding lines. The entries marked \"n/a\" represent missing data.

*Variables*

* **Accession ID:**  Passport identifier.
* **Alias:** Known alias.
* **Location/Country or State**:Site and Country or U.S. state in which the accession was collected or bred.
* **Germplasm Type:** Material designation (wild population, landrace, cultivar, or breeding line).
* **Birth or Collection Year:** Year of collection or crossing.
* **Genotyped:** Whether the accession was genotyped with the 17K cranberry Flex-Seq platform.
* **Hierarchical Cluster:** Group designation based on clustering analysis from flavonol estimated ...,