Location: Sugarbeet Research
Project Number: 3060-21000-045-039-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Sep 1, 2025
End Date: Aug 31, 2026
Objective:
1. Evaluate the effectiveness of sea beet resistance in sugarbeet background
2. Test if resistance from different sources (sea beet and sugarbeet) can be combined for better resistance
3. Pyramid different resistance genes to check their additive effects
4. GWAS to identify resistance genes in wild sea beet
5. Marker-assisted selection to develop new germplasm lines with resistance to CLS and SBRM.
Approach:
This research will use a set of 5 diverse sea beet accessions resistant to CLS to cross with a sugarbeet line that is susceptible to CLS, and another set of 5 diverse sea beet accessions with SBRM resistance to cross with a sugarbeet line that showed susceptibility to SBRM in the field. The same two sets of sea beet accessions will cross with two sugarbeet lines showed resistance to CLS or SBRM, respectively. F1 plants will immediately be backcrossed with the sugarbeet parents with each cross obtain about 30 seeds (BC1F1). Meanwhile, the genome-wide association studies (GWAS) in B. maritima, which is an ongoing project supported by BSDF (Beet Sugar Development Foundation) and SBREB (Sugar Beet Research and Education Board of ND and MN), will identify genomic regions associated with the resistance. SNPs from genomic regions harboring resistance gene will be used to select progeny plants to either backcross or intercross. Selected progenies from crosses between sea beet and susceptible sugarbeet will be used to evaluate effectiveness of sea beet resistance in sugarbeet genetic background, and the others from crosses between sea beet and resistant or moderately resistant sugarbeet will be used for evaluating additive effects of the resistance genes. Selection on root shape and yield will be conducted along with resistance evaluation. Germplasm lines with satisfied root traits and enhanced CLS and SBRM resistance will be amplified and then released for using in breeding.