Cowpea is one of the most important crops in West Africa and is essential for the region's food and nutrition security and economic development. Consequently, improving its agronomic performance and yield is a desirable goal. Brown blotch disease, caused by the fungal pathogen Colletotrichum capsici, is an important constraint of cowpea productivity, and at present, only limited genetic resources are available for breeding improved brown blotch-resistant varieties. The current study has characterized the genetic basis for brown blotch resistance conferred by the cowpea cultivar KN1 and identified a major dominant quantitative trait locus (QTL) for resistance on chromosome Vu02. A segregating F2 population (n = 200), derived from a cross between KN1 and brown blotch-susceptible Tiligre (KVx775-33-2G), was developed and scored for disease severity following controlled inoculation. A subset of the population (n = 94) was genotyped with 99 newly developed allele-specific polymerase chain reaction (AS-PCR) markers, and multiple interval mapping was performed. One major and three minor QTL were identified. This is the first reported mapping of QTL conferring resistance to C. capsici in cowpea, and it is expected that the markers identified here will be a valuable resource for developing elite cowpea cultivars with resistance to brown blotch.
Keywords: Brown blotch; Colletotrichum capsici; Cowpea; Disease resistance; Quantitative trait loci mapping.