Molecular Resistance Determination of Different Eggplant (Solanum melongena L.) Genetic Resources and Breeding lines against Fusarium Wilt

Abstract

Eggplant (Solanum melongena L. ) is a major vegetable crop with great potential for genetic improvement owing to its large and mostly untapped genetic diversity. Türkiye is the 4th country with the highest production amount among the world’s eggplant producing countries. The most important factor limiting eggplant production is its susceptibility to soilborne diseases such as Fusarium and Verticillium wilt. Resistance to Fusarium wilt in eggplant is monogenic. In the Aegean Agricultural Research Institute, vegetable genetic resources are used extensively in both open-pollinated and hybrid variety breeding studies. In the present study, a total of 48 eggplant genotypes, including F4 breeding lines and landraces from the institute's gene pool, were screened for resistance to Fusarium wilt using the PCR-based SCAR426 molecular marker. All landraces and 23 breeding lines lacked the resistance-associated allele and were classified as susceptible based on marker analysis. Among the tested materials, only one inbred line ETA5 was found to carry the resistance allele. As classical phenotypic screening was not performed in the present study, the resistance indicated by the SCAR426 marker for ETA5 requires confirmation through classical disease resistance assays. This genotype could represent an alternative source of resistance and may be valuable for future eggplant breeding programs.

Keywords

• SCAR426
• molecular evaluation
• Solanum melongena
• Fusarium wilt
• sources

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