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ARS Home » Southeast Area » Tifton, Georgia » Crop Protection and Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #342969
Title: Molecular markers and genomic resources for disease resistance in peanut - A review

Author
item CHOUDHARY, DIVYA - University Of Georgia
item AGARWAL, GAURAV - University Of Georgia
item WANG, HUI - University Of Georgia
item PANDEY, MANISH - International Crops Research Institute For Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) - India
item CULBREATH, ALBRET - University Of Georgia
item VARSHNEY, RAJEEV - International Crops Research Institute For Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) - India
item Guo, Baozhu

Submitted to: Legume Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 6/28/2018
Publication Date: 4/1/2019
Citation: Choudhary, D., Agarwal, G., Wang, H., Pandey, M.K., Culbreath, A.K., Varshney, R.K., Guo, B. 2019. Molecular markers and genomic resources for disease resistance in peanut - A review. Legume Research. 42(2):137-144.

Interpretive Summary: Cultivated peanut is originated in south Americas and has two subspecies, which are further classified into six botanical varieties and four market types. Because cultivated peanut was evolved from the wild peanut, the peanut we grow today has very narrow genetic background. Due to the polyploidy differences between the cultivated peanut and its diploid wild relatives, the contribution of the diversity of rich alleles or genes from the wild species has been insignificant in cultivated peanut improvement. Peanut genomics is very challenging since its inherent complexity of genetic and genomic architecture. The lack of sufficient and suitable genomic resources has impeded molecular breeding activities and resulted in peanut to be among the less-studied crops until the availability of peanut genomic information in recent years. During the past decade we have witnessed the progress in peanut genomics and the availability of reference genome of wild peanuts has opened avenues for the discovery of molecular markers facilitating the construction of high density linkage and trait maps. Specifically, it is very significant in the area of biotic stress with respect to the development of new markers, genetic linkage maps, and other genomic resources/applications.

Technical Abstract: Peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) is cultivated in more than 100 countries as an important source of oil, protein, carbohydrate and also as nutrient-rich animal hay in developing countries. Domestication of groundnut through breeding programs has developed improved varieties to meet the preferences of farmers and consumers. However, speciation and domestication through breeding of peanut have diminished its genetic diversity and has also severely affected the diversity of specific targeted traits and genes. The relatively recent polyploidation of peanut in addition to geographic restriction in production area has caused peanut as a highly monomorphic species. Due to this reduction in genetic diversity cultivated peanut is more susceptible to various diseases, causing economic loss to farmers. These diseases can be controlled by application of chemical pesticides but this will adversely affect the environment and also increase production cost for farmers. Therefore, the environment-friendly method such as improved host resistance is preferred in order to reduce the negative impact by increasing genetic diversity of peanut. During the past decade we have witnessed the progress in peanut genomics and the recent availability of reference genomes of the diploid progenitors has opened avenues for the discovery of molecular markers facilitating the construction of high density linkage and trait maps. All these advances will surely assist in improvement of peanut diversity and breeding.