Comparing diploid and triploid apples from a diverse collection
2025
Elaina Greaves | Thomas Davies | Sean Myles | Zoë Migicovsky
Apples (Malus X. domestica Borkh.) are an economically important fruit species and are primarily diploid, although other ploidy levels exist. The impact of ploidy on agricultural traits in apple is not well understood but is an important factor to consider for breeding and production of apples. We used heterozygosity to infer ploidy for 970 apple accessions from a diverse collection. Next, we contrasted inferred diploid and inferred triploid apples across 10 agriculturally important traits. After correction for multiple testing, we determined that triploids have significantly higher phenolic content, but do not significantly differ from diploids for any other trait. We also determined that triploid varieties have significantly earlier release dates than diploids, suggesting that contemporary breeding programs primarily release diploid varieties. Ultimately, our results provide evidence that phenotypic differences between trees of differing ploidy are subtle and often insignificant and that there are limited measurable benefits to the use of triploids for apple production.
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