Graph pangenome captures missing heritability and empowers tomato breeding

May 26, 2025

This study addresses the issue of missing heritability, where the genetic variance identified through significant markers is less than the actual genetic variance estimated through family. Using a newly developed multi-omics analysis workflow on the tomato graph pangenome, the study explores the missing heritability from three aspects: incomplete linkage disequilibrium, allelic heterogeneity, and locus heterogeneity. Furthermore, the findings indicate that recovering missing heritability can enhance molecular marker-assisted selection and genomic selection approaches for tomato flavor breeding.