Helen M. Cockerton,  Robert J. Vickerstaff,  Amanda Karlström,  Fiona Wilson,  Maria Sobczyk,  Joe Q. He,  Daniel J. Sargent,  Andy J. Passey,  Kirsty J. McLeary,  Katalin Pakozdi, Nicola Harrison,   Maria Lumbreras-Martinez,  Laima Antanaviciute,  David W. Simpson,  Richard J. Harrison

Theoretical and Applied Genetics; September 2018; Volume 131, Issue 9, pp 1995–2007

Key Message Powdery mildew resistance in two strawberry mapping populations is controlled by both stable and transient novel QTL of moderate effect. Some low transferability of QTL across wider germplasm was observed.

Abstract

The obligate biotrophic fungus Podosphaera aphanis is the causative agent of powdery mildew on cultivated strawberry (Fragaria×ananassa). Genotypes from two bi-parental mapping populations ‘Emily’בFenella’ and ‘Redgauntlet’בHapil’ were phenotyped for powdery mildew disease severity in a series of field trials. Here, we report multiple QTL associated with resistance to powdery mildew, identified in ten phenotyping events conducted across different years and locations. Six QTL show a level of stable resistance across multiple phenotyping events; however, many other QTL were represented in a single phenotyping event and therefore must be considered transient. Subsequent screening of identified QTL across a validation set determined whether identified QTL remained closely linked to the associated resistance gene in the wider germplasm. Furthermore, a preliminary association analysis identified a novel conserved locus for further investigation. Our data suggest that resistance is highly complex and that multiple, primarily additive, sources of quantitative resistance to powdery mildew exist across strawberry germplasm. Utilisation of the reported markers in marker-assisted breeding or genomic selection would lead to improved powdery mildew-resistant strawberry cultivars, particularly where the studied parents, progeny and close pedigree material are included in breeding germplasm.

See https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00122-018-3128-0

Figure 5: Lnkage map displaying 35154 marker positions (grey) in Mb for 28 linkage groups of octoploid strawberry (1A–7D) marker positions scaled to the F. vesca genome. QTL locations from combined analysis ‘Emily’ × ‘Fenella’ (red) and ‘Redgauntlet’ × ‘Hapil’ (purple) and from the targeted marker association analysis (black) point size denote significance level of QTL (colour figure online)