A blueberry billberry gene mapping project at Plant & Food Research, funded by Genomics Aotearoa, has made some significant findings about the berry's unique pigments, something that has exciting potential for our own horticultural industry.

The genome produced by the project is a world first, but not only that, the researchers were also excited to find a genetic marker for distinctive fruit colour.

The bilberry is a shrub found throughout much of northern Europe and as far north as the Arctic Circle. It grows wild, and its dark-colored fruits are harvested for food and medicinal purposes.

It belongs to the same genus, Vaccinium, as the North American blueberries, but unlike blueberry flesh, which is light green in color, the bilberry is distinctly red or purple.

The question is whether hybridization of the bilberry blueberry and the domesticated blueberry will produce a modern cultivar with colored flesh that can be grown for production.

“It's great to work with our Northern European counterparts in one plant and to be able to import a new plant that wasn't in Aotearoa before. The research has given us invaluable information about the genus Vaccinium and some of its most important genetic characteristics,” says Dr. Richard Espley, Plant & Food Research Scientist.

Although the blueberry genome has previously been sequenced, the blueberry billberry has not, so the genome that the collaboration has produced provides vital insight into the differences between the two. Comparing the genomes has already helped these blueberry researchers identify the genes responsible for the characteristic red/purple pigment.

“Having a knowledge of evolutionary biology will help those in the northern hemisphere understand how the indigenous blueberry will cope with climate change. For New Zealand, the potential lies in future blueberry breeding programs that can take advantage of the unique and health-promoting anthocyanins of the bilberry. Potentially, we can look for new premium blueberry varieties, with an emphasis on colored flesh."

The collaboration worked with representatives of the Sámi community (from Sápmi, formerly known as Lapland in the Nordic regions of Northern Europe). A Biocultural Notice has been published about this work, acknowledging the cultural significance of the bilberry in its homeland and its importance to its indigenous community.

MBIE provided funding in the 'Filling the Void' programme, designed to understand how some berries are so highly pigmented and how to introduce this phenomenon into a variety grown for commercial production.