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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Miami, Florida » Subtropical Horticulture Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #296219

Title: Toward the identification of candidate genes involved In black pod disease resistance in Theobroma cacao L.

Author
item LIVINGSTONE III, DONALD - M & M Mars Company - United States
item Gutierrez, Osman
item ROYAERT, STEFAN - M & M Mars Company - Brazil
item EPAINA, PETER - Png Cocoa And Coconut Institute (CCRI)
item Kuhn, David
item SCHNELL, RAYMOND - M & M Mars Company - United States
item MOTAMAYOR, JUAN CARLOS - M & M Mars Company - United States

Submitted to: Meeting Abstract
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/1/2013
Publication Date: 1/11/2013
Citation: Livingstone Iii, D., Gutierrez, O.A., Royaert, S., Epaina, P., Kuhn, D.N., Schnell, R.J., Motamayor, J. 2013. Toward the identification of candidate genes involved In black pod disease resistance in Theobroma cacao L.. Meeting Abstract. Int'l Plant & Animal Genome XXI Conference, San Diego, CA, January 12-16, 2013.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Black Pod (Phytophthora sp.) has a devastating effect on the worldwide cacao (Theobroma cacao) yield and incorporating resistance into production fields has been an ongoing effort of breeding programs. Previous meta-QTL analysis of genetic maps created with a variety of molecular markers identified 13 consensus QTLs. The resolution of these QTLs suffered from being associated with genetic maps with limited numbers of molecular markers. Recently, three mapping populations were genotyped with a total of 6000 SNP markers. Reciprocal crosses were made from ‘K82’ (resistant) and ‘KA2-101’ (susceptible), the resulting progeny were found to segregate for Black Pod resistance, and saturated genetic SNP maps were generated. The forward cross ('K82' x 'KA2-101') consists of 215 individual trees and 2545 SNP markers, while the reverse cross ('KA2-101' x 'K82') has 110 individual trees and 2546 SNP markers. Field-based pod rot phenotype data was collected on these populations over two years. QTL analysis for Black Pod resistance is performed and compared to previously identified consensus QTLs. Furthermore, candidate genes within identified QTLs will be investigated, and an association between resistance and parental haplotypes will be explored. The identification of QTLs with a saturated genetic map, and the identification of genes potentially involved in Black Pod resistance will help breeding programs and may ultimately reduce global cacao losses.