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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Poplarville, Mississippi » Southern Horticultural Research Unit » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #323581
Title: Screening strawberry plants for anthracnose disease resistance using traditional and molecular techniques

Author
item Miller Butler, Melinda
item Smith, Barbara
item CURRY, KENNETH - University Of Mississippi
item KREISER, BRIAN - University Of Southern Mississippi

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/8/2016
Publication Date: 3/15/2016
Citation: . M. A. Miller-Butler, K. J. Curry, B. R. Kreiser, & B. J. Smith. 2016. Screening Strawberry Plants for Anthracnose Disease Resistance Using Traditional and Molecular Techniques. Journal of Mississippi Academy of Sciences. 61:1, 24-25.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Anthracnose is one of the most destructive diseases of strawberry which may cause fruit rot, leaf and petiole lesions, crown rot, wilt, and death. Crop loss due to anthracnose diseases can reach into the millions of dollars. Three species of Colletotrichum are considered causative agents of anthracnose diseases of strawberry. Selective breeding for anthracnose resistance in strawberry requires the identification of cultivars with genes conveying some degree of disease resistance. The octoploid nature of commercial strawberries has tended to make working on their genetics difficult, but some traits do demonstrate disomic inheritance. Two disease resistance genes have been identified in strawberry through controlled crosses: Rpf1 for resistance to Phytophthora fragariae and Rca2, a dominant gene that has been demonstrated to provide resistance to pathogenicity group 2 of C. acutatum. Two sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers for the Rca2 resistance allele were reported in a variety (22) of European and US cultivars, and although there was not a perfect association with anthracnose resistance to C. acutatum these SCAR markers provide a unique set of tools to use in screening selections for anthracnose-resistant genotypes in the strawberry breeding programs. The focus of this research was to establish the level of resistance or susceptibility of 80 US strawberry germplasm lines to all three anthracnose-causing Colletotrichum species and to determine the degree to which an association and agreement exists between the resistance or susceptibility of the strawberry plants to the presence or absence of the Rca2 resistant allele SCAR markers.