Table 4. Number of QTLs and cumulative effect for fruit firmness, harvest date and dry matter content in the ‘Royal Gala’ × ‘Braeburn’ apple population. The entire list of QTLs is found in Supplemental Table 3. The percentage of phenotypic variation explained was calculated by linear regression using all the detected QTLs in the model. The percentage of phenotypic variation explained by the previously reported LG10¹⁸ and LG16²⁷ QTLs for loss of fruit firmness is also reported.

Trait	Year	Site	Number of QTLs	% variation explained by all the QTLs	% variation explained by published LG10 and LG16 QTLs
Dry matter content	2009	Hawke's Bay	10	26.6	4.7
	2010		5	13.1	7
	2009	Motueka	9	33	4.8
	2010		6	19	7
Fruit firmness after storage	2009	Hawke's Bay	9	43.3	23.1
	2010		11	44	22
	2009	Motueka	12	53.2	22
	2010		13	46	24.4
Fruit firmness at harvest	2009	Hawke's Bay	7	25.5	7
	2010		8	26.8	15.2
	2009	Motueka	9	33.7	2.4
	2010		8	26.1	2.4
Loss of firmness during storage	2009	Hawke's Bay	5	21.5	18.6
	2010		8	26.7	18.1
	2009	Motueka	9	38.8	24.2
	2010		10	38.1	26.1
Harvest date	2009	Hawke's Bay	14	47.8	23.4
	2010		15	54.1	27.6
	2009	Motueka	11	46.2	30.8
	2010		11	49.9	34