Breeding for Disease Resistance

A special issue of Agronomy (ISSN 2073-4395).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 July 2016) | Viewed by 37687

Special Issue Editors

Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, CSIC, Avenida Menendez Pidal s/n, 14004 Cordoba, Spain
Interests: identification, characterization and use of genetic resistance in legume breeding
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier (ITQB NOVA), Universidade Nova de Lisboa, Av. da República, 2780-157 Oeiras, Portugal
Interests: genomics; genetics; molecular quantitative genetics; plant breeding; biotic/abiotic stress resistance
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Institute for Sustainable Agriculture, CSIC Apdo. 4084, E-14080 Córdoba, Spain
Interests: disease resistance; plant breeding; cereals; legumes; rusts; powdery mildews; resistance mechanisms; signaling; biotic-abiotic stress interaction; resistance cost

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Diseases are major constraints for field and horticultural crop production, impairing both yield and quality. Breeding for disease resistance is the most efficient, economical, and environmentally-friendly way of control. It is, therefore, a crucial component of sustainable agriculture that can be performed by using several approaches from classical breeding to genetic engineering. However, a detailed understanding of pathogen biology, host-pathogen interaction, and of the efficient resistance mechanisms at the cellular and molecular levels are required to improve the efficiency of the breeding process.

Effectiveness of breeding will certainly increase soon with the adoption of recent developments in large-scale phenotyping, genome sequencing, analysis of gene expression, and protein/metabolite abundance. Additional efforts are needed to increase our understanding of the biology and epidemiology of the causal agents, including host status and virulence, as these have major implications for any breeding program. Only after significant input in improving existing knowledge on both pathogen virulence and plant resistance, resistance breeding will be efficiently accelerated.

The Special Issue will focus on research topics for plant breeding for disease resistance. We intend to appoint 10 comprehensive reviews, each one covering achievements and challenges in crop breeding in major groups of diseases, tentatively: (1) rusts; (2) powdery mildews; (3) bunts and smuts; (4) foliar neurotropic fungi; (5) soilborne pathogenic fungi; (6) nematodes; (7) bacterial diseases; (8) viral diseases; (9) parasitic weeds; and (10) oomycete. Each review should address the general specificities of that group of diseases and the implications for resistance breeding, only then providing some examples in major crops.

In addition to the above-mentioned reviews by appointment, specific research articles or reviews reporting novel scientific findings concerning the identification, characterization, or utilization of resistance to plant diseases are most welcome.

Prof. Diego Rubiales
Dr. Elena Prats
Dr. Maria Carlota Vaz Patto
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Agronomy is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.


Keywords

  • Plant breeding
  • disease resistance
  • plant disease
  • plant/pathogen interaction
  • fungi
  • bacteria
  • nematodes
  • parasitic weeds

Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

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201 KiB  
Article
Evaluation of African-Bred Maize Germplasm Lines for Resistance to Aflatoxin Accumulation
by Robert L. Brown, W. Paul Williams, Gary L. Windham, Abebe Menkir and Zhi-Yuan Chen
Agronomy 2016, 6(2), 24; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy6020024 - 15 Apr 2016
Cited by 21 | Viewed by 4729
Abstract
Aflatoxins, produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus, contaminate maize grain and threaten human food and feed safety. Plant resistance is considered the best strategy for reducing aflatoxin accumulation. Six maize germplasm lines, TZAR101–TZAR106, were released by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-Southern [...] Read more.
Aflatoxins, produced by the fungus Aspergillus flavus, contaminate maize grain and threaten human food and feed safety. Plant resistance is considered the best strategy for reducing aflatoxin accumulation. Six maize germplasm lines, TZAR101–TZAR106, were released by the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture-Southern Regional Research Center (IITA-SRRC) maize breeding collaboration for use in African National Programs and U.S. maize breeding programs. The present investigation was conducted to evaluate aflatoxin reduction by these lines in a U.S. environment. As germplasm lines, resistance was demonstrated by the lines tested in 2010 and 2014 trials. In 2010, TZAR106 was among the lines with the lowest toxin accumulation, and in 2014, along with TZAR102, supported low aflatoxin. When evaluated as single cross hybrids in 2012, 2013 and 2014, several crosses involving IITA-SRRC lines accumulated low toxin. In 2012, TZAR103 × HBA1 was one of 4 lines with the lowest concentration of aflatoxin. In 2014, five IITA-SRRC hybrids were among the lowest with TZAR102 × Va35 and TZAR102 × LH132 being the two lowest. Results demonstrate significant aflatoxin reduction by IITA-SRRC lines in a U.S. aflatoxin-conducive environment (at Mississippi State University). Further testing in different locations and environments is needed to further evaluate the potential usefulness of these germplasm lines. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breeding for Disease Resistance)
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672 KiB  
Article
Novel QTL for Stripe Rust Resistance on Chromosomes 4A and 6B in Soft White Winter Wheat Cultivars
by Emily F. Klarquist, Xianming M. Chen and Arron H. Carter
Agronomy 2016, 6(1), 4; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy6010004 - 06 Jan 2016
Cited by 17 | Viewed by 5864
Abstract
Stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) of wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a devastating disease in temperate regions when susceptible varieties are grown and environmental conditions sustain high disease pressures. With frequent and severe outbreaks, disease resistance is [...] Read more.
Stripe rust (caused by Puccinia striiformis f. sp. tritici) of wheat (Triticum aestivum) is a devastating disease in temperate regions when susceptible varieties are grown and environmental conditions sustain high disease pressures. With frequent and severe outbreaks, disease resistance is a key tool for controlling stripe rust on wheat. The goal of this research was to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) involved in stripe rust resistance from the important US Pacific Northwest soft white winter wheat varieties “Eltan” and “Finch”. An F2:5 recombinant inbred line (RIL) mapping population of 151 individuals derived from the Finch × Eltan cross was developed through single seed descent. A linkage map comprising 683 unique single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) loci and 70 SSR markers were used to develop 22 linkage groups consisting of 16 of the 21 chromosomes. Stripe rust data were collected on the RILs during the summers of 2012 to 2014. QTL analysis identified two genomic regions on chromosomes 4A (QYrel.wak-4A) and 6B (QYrfi.wak-6B) associated with resistance from Eltan and Finch, respectively. The results of the QTL analysis showed that QYrel.wak-4A and QYrfi.wak-6B reduced infection type and disease severity. Based upon both molecular and phenotypic differences, QYrel.wak-4A is a novel QTL for adult plant resistance (APR) to stripe rust. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breeding for Disease Resistance)
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486 KiB  
Article
Genetic Dissection of Disease Resistance to the Blue Mold Pathogen, Peronospora tabacina, in Tobacco
by Xia Wu, Dandan Li, Yinguang Bao, David Zaitlin, Robert Miller and Shengming Yang
Agronomy 2015, 5(4), 555-568; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy5040555 - 27 Nov 2015
Cited by 6 | Viewed by 5214
Abstract
Tobacco blue mold, caused by the obligately biotrophic oomycete pathogen Peronospora tabacina D.B. Adam, is a major foliar disease that results in significant losses in tobacco-growing areas. Natural resistance to P. tabacina has not been identified in any variety of common tobacco. [...] Read more.
Tobacco blue mold, caused by the obligately biotrophic oomycete pathogen Peronospora tabacina D.B. Adam, is a major foliar disease that results in significant losses in tobacco-growing areas. Natural resistance to P. tabacina has not been identified in any variety of common tobacco. Complete resistance, conferred by RBM1, was found in N. debneyi and was transferred into cultivated tobacco by crossing. In the present study, we characterized the RBM1-mediated resistance to blue mold in tobacco and show that the hypersensitive response (HR) plays an important role in the host defense reactions. Genetic mapping indicated that the disease resistance gene locus resides on chromosome 7. The genetic markers linked to this gene and the genetic map we generated will not only benefit tobacco breeders for variety improvement but will also facilitate the positional cloning of RBM1 for biologists. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breeding for Disease Resistance)
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1563 KiB  
Article
Screening for Sugarcane Brown Rust in the First Clonal Stage of the Canal Point Sugarcane Breeding Program
by Duli Zhao, R. Wayne Davidson, Miguel Baltazar, Jack C. Comstock, Per McCord and Sushma Sood
Agronomy 2015, 5(3), 341-362; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy5030341 - 31 Jul 2015
Cited by 25 | Viewed by 6583
Abstract
Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) brown rust (caused by Puccinia melanocephala Syd. & P. Syd.) was first reported in the United States in 1978 and is still one of the great challenges for sugarcane production. A better understanding of sugarcane genotypic variation in response [...] Read more.
Sugarcane (Saccharum spp.) brown rust (caused by Puccinia melanocephala Syd. & P. Syd.) was first reported in the United States in 1978 and is still one of the great challenges for sugarcane production. A better understanding of sugarcane genotypic variation in response to brown rust will help optimize breeding and selection strategies for disease resistance. Brown rust ratings were scaled from non-infection (0) to severe infection (4) with intervals of 0.5 and routinely recorded for genotypes in the first clonal selection stage of the Canal Point sugarcane breeding program in Florida. Data were collected from 14,272 and 12,661 genotypes and replicated check cultivars in 2012 and 2013, respectively. Mean rust rating, % infection, and severity in each family and progeny of female parent were determined, and their coefficients of variation (CV) within and among families (females) were estimated. Considerable variation exists in rust ratings among families or females. The families and female parents with high susceptibility or resistance to brown rust were identified and ranked. The findings of this study can help scientists to evaluate sugarcane crosses and parents for brown rust disease, to use desirable parents for crossing, and to improve genetic resistance to brown rust in breeding programs. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breeding for Disease Resistance)
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Review

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529 KiB  
Review
An Update on Genetic Resistance of Chickpea to Ascochyta Blight
by Mamta Sharma and Raju Ghosh
Agronomy 2016, 6(1), 18; https://0-doi-org.brum.beds.ac.uk/10.3390/agronomy6010018 - 08 Mar 2016
Cited by 69 | Viewed by 13714
Abstract
Ascochyta blight (AB) caused by Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Labr. is an important and widespread disease of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) worldwide. The disease is particularly severe under cool and humid weather conditions. Breeding for host resistance is an efficient means to combat [...] Read more.
Ascochyta blight (AB) caused by Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Labr. is an important and widespread disease of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) worldwide. The disease is particularly severe under cool and humid weather conditions. Breeding for host resistance is an efficient means to combat this disease. In this paper, attempts have been made to summarize the progress made in identifying resistance sources, genetics and breeding for resistance, and genetic variation among the pathogen population. The search for resistance to AB in chickpea germplasm, breeding lines and land races using various screening methods has been updated. Importance of the genotype × environment (GE) interaction in elucidating the aggressiveness among isolates from different locations and the identification of pathotypes and stable sources of resistance have also been discussed. Current and modern breeding programs for AB resistance based on crossing resistant/multiple resistant and high-yielding cultivars, stability of the breeding lines through multi-location testing and molecular marker-assisted selection method have been discussed. Gene pyramiding and the use of resistant genes present in wild relatives can be useful methods in the future. Identification of additional sources of resistance genes, good characterization of the host–pathogen system, and identification of molecular markers linked to resistance genes are suggested as the key areas for future study. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Breeding for Disease Resistance)
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