Screening and validation of three molecular markers for disease resistance in eggplant

Abstract

Fusarium oxysporum Schlecht. f.sp. melongenae (FOM), Verticillium dahliae (Ve) and Ralstonia solanacea-rum are major limiting pathogens affecting eggplant cultivation and their yield in the world. Natural resistance genes are the most environmentally friendly method to control the disease. Thus, marker-assisted selection (MAS) is preferred as a tool for screening resistance genes (R-genes) in eggplant resistance breeding. In this study, markers that are specifica-lly linked to major disease resistance genes conferring resistance to F. melongenae, V. dahliae and R. solanacearum were tested in a population containing breeding materials to validate the resistance. Resistant Solanum melongena accessions LS1934 and LS2436 and their reciprocal crosses were used as the resistance resource for this validation study. Moreo-ver, classical resistance tests to FOM and Ve were performed with the root-dip inoculation method for classification of all the accessions based on their resistance/susceptibility responses. The SCAR426, CAPs_903 and SIVR844 markers were highly informative for the determination of resistance genes (Fomg, Ve and ERs1). Therefore, in areas with high susceptibility to diseases, a highly efficient combination of the relevant R-genes and their pyramiding into commercial eggplant varieties are proposed to be implemented as a pragmatic approach.