Loss-of-function mutations in the fruit softening gene POLYGALACTURONASE1 doubled fruit firmness in strawberry

Wildtype fruit of cultivated strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa) are typically soft and highly perishable when fully ripe.  The development of firm-fruited cultivars by phenotypic selection has greatly increased shelf life, decreased post-harvest perishability, and driven the expansion of strawberry production worldwide.  Hypotheses for the firm-fruited phenotype include mutations affecting the expression of genes encoding polygalacturonases that soften fruit by degrading cell wall pectins.  Here we show that loss-of-function mutations in the fruit softening gene POLYGALACTURONASE1 (PG1-6A1) double fruit firmness in strawberry.  PG1-6A1 was one of three tandemly duplicated polygalacturonase genes found to be in linkage disequilibrium with a quantitative trait locus affecting fruit firmness on chromosome 6A. PG1-6A1 was strongly expressed in soft-fruited (wildtype) homozygotes and weakly expressed in firm-fruited (mutant) homozygotes.  Genome-wide association, quantitative trait transcript,..., , , # Loss-of-function mutations in the fruit softening gene *POLYGALACTURONASE1* doubled fruit firmness in strawberry

[https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k3j9kd5hk](https://doi.org/10.5061/dryad.k3j9kd5hk)

## Description of the data and file structure

**Supplemental Data S1:** Phenotypic data was collected from 85 individuals during two harvests in separate years at field sites in Santa Maria (SM) and Oxnard (OX), California.

**Supplemental Data S2.** Phenotypic data from 460 individuals evaluated across two harvest periods under commercial field conditions in Ventura, California.

**Supplemental Data S3.** Phenotypic observations from a greenhouse experiment involving 43 individuals over six separate harvests.

**Supplemental Data S4.** Phenotypic measurements for 87 individuals from the UC Davis Strawberry Germplasm Collection were collected at the Wolfskill Experiment Orchard (WEO) in Winters, California, over two years and six harvest dates.

**Supplemental Data S5**. Data on 152 one-y...