Resistance Evaluation for Native Potato Accessions against Late Blight Disease and Potato Cyst Nematodes by Molecular Markers and Phenotypic Screening in India

Dalamu; Jagesh Kumar Tiwari; Aarti Bairwa; Nisha Bhatia; Rasna Zinta; Nimisha Kaushal; Vinod Kumar; Ashwani K Sharma; Sanjeev Sharma; Babita Choudhary; Satish Kumar Luthra; Tanuja Buckseth; Rajesh K Singh; Ajay K Thakur; Manoj Kumar; Devendra Kumar

doi:10.3390/life13010033

Resistance Evaluation for Native Potato Accessions against Late Blight Disease and Potato Cyst Nematodes by Molecular Markers and Phenotypic Screening in India

Life (Basel). 2022 Dec 23;13(1):33. doi: 10.3390/life13010033.

Authors

Dalamu¹, Jagesh Kumar Tiwari¹, Aarti Bairwa¹, Nisha Bhatia^{1

2}, Rasna Zinta^{1

3}, Nimisha Kaushal¹, Vinod Kumar¹, Ashwani K Sharma¹, Sanjeev Sharma¹, Babita Choudhary⁴, Satish Kumar Luthra⁴, Tanuja Buckseth¹, Rajesh K Singh¹, Ajay K Thakur¹, Manoj Kumar⁴, Devendra Kumar^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Central Potato Research Institute, Shimla 171001, Himachal Pradesh, India.
² School of Biotechnology, Shoolini University, Solan 173229, Himachal Pradesh, India.
³ School of Bioengineering and Biosciences, Lovely Professional University, Phagwara 144001, Punjab, India.
⁴ ICAR-Central Potato Research Institute, Regional Station, Modipuram, Meerut 250110, Uttar Pradesh, India.

Abstract

The potato originated in southern Peru and north-western Bolivia (South America). However, native accessions have also been cultivated in India for many years. Late blight, caused by the fungus Phytophthora infestans, is the most devastating potato disease, while potato cyst nematode (Globodera spp.) (PCN) is another economically significant quarantine-requiring pest in India. In this study, we have generated a new Indian native collection of 94 potato accessions collected from different parts India. These accessions were screened against late blight and potato cyst nematode resistance by using gene-based molecular markers and phenotypic screening methods. Marker assisted selection using R1 gene-specific marker CosA₂₁₀ revealed a late blight resistance gene in 11 accessions. PCN resistance bands were found in 3 accessions with marker TG689₁₄₁, 5 accessions with marker 57R₄₅₂, and 1 accession having Gro1-4-1₆₀₂ marker for G. rostochiensis (Ro1,4), while 64 accessions amplified marker HC₂₇₆ indicating G. pallida (Pa2,3) resistance gene (GpaV_vrn QTL). On the other hand, phenotypic screening against late blight resistance under natural epiphytic conditions (hot-spot) revealed three accessions with high resistance, while others were resistant (1 accession), moderately resistant (5 accessions), susceptible (29 accessions), and highly susceptible (56 accessions). For G. rostochiensis (golden cyst nematode) and G. pallida (white cyst nematode) resistance, accessions were grouped into highly resistant (3, 3), resistant (0, 2), moderately resistant (6, 29), susceptible (32, 30), and highly susceptible (53, 30), respectively, for the two PCN species. Collectively, we identified promising accessions with high resistance to late blight (JG-1, Kanpuria Safed, and Rangpuria), and also highly resistant to both Globodera species (Garlentic, Jeevan Jyoti, and JG-1). Our findings suggested that these accessions would be useful for late blight and PCN resistance breeding, as well as future molecular studies in potatoes.

Keywords: late blight; molecular marker; phenotype screening; potato cyst nematode; resistance.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by ICAR-CPRI, Shimla.