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A quantitative trait is a measurable phenotype that depends on the cumulative actions of many genes and the environment. These traits can vary among individuals, over a range, to produce a continuous distribution of phenotypes. Examples include height, weight and blood pressure.
Cultivated strawberry is a hybrid species with a 250-year domestication history. Here, the authors use genomic prediction and a historically important breeding population to show that the introduction of photoperiod-insensitive hybrids and genetic gains from breeding have been catalysts for a strawberry Green Revolution.
A paper in Nature Communications describes a framework for identifying seed traits in food crops that have health-promoting effects on the gut microbiome, with implications for crop improvement approaches.