The number of markers, average interval (cM) ± standard deviation, maximum interval (cM) per linkage group, length (cM) of each linkage group of the consensus map of apple, and genome coverage (%) per linkage group.

The consensus map was constructed by merging ‘Fiesta’and ‘Discovery’ maps [21], the genetic map for M9×R5 [22], an integrated map based on six populations [23], and our newly constructed map of Co-op 16×Co-op 17. The average Ge per LG is the average estimated genome length per linkage group calculated using the method of Fishman et al. [25] and method 4 of Chakravarti et al. [26]. Genome coverage (%) per LG was calculated by dividing the observed linkage group length by the estimated genome length of the corresponding LG multiplied by 100.