Powdery mildew resistance of apple clonal rootstocks from the collection of the Michurinsk State Agrarian University

Abstract

Apple clonal rootstocks are the basis of modern intensive horticulture, providing a rapid increase in yield and convenience of fruit trees cultivation. Production of clonal rootstocks under high humidity often causes powdery mildew infection caused by the pathogenic fungus Podosphaera leucotricha Salm., which significantly reduces the productivity of stoolbed. Growing powdery mildew resistant genotypes is the most appropriate way to combat this disease and allows reducing the use of fungicides. To accelerate the search for resistant forms, molecular markers associated with resistance genes have been developed. However, these markers have not been used to study clonal rootstocks. The aims of the work were the field assessment of powdery mildew resistance of apple clonal rootstocks from the collection of the Michurinsk State Agrarian University and the screening of the collection for Pl-1, Pl-2, Pl-w and Pl-d resistance genes. The results of a three-year field evaluation of powdery mildew resistance of 80 rootstocks allowed us to distinguish five main groups ranging from very low to highly resistant. A group of 57 accessions was classified as powdery mildew resistant. The search for resistance genes was performed using the AT20 SCAR (Pl-1 gene), OPU02 SCAR (Pl- 2 gene), EM DM01 (Pl-d gene), and EM M02 (Pl-w gene) markers. The Pl-d and Pl-1 genes identified in 33 (41.25 %) and 31 (38.75 %) accessions, respectively, were the most common in the collection. The Pl-w gene was detected only in two accessions. Identification of the Pl-2 gene with the OPU02 SCAR marker did not reveal a fragment of the expected size. Thirty accessions with different powdery mildew resistance scores had two genes, Pl-1 and Pl-d, and highly resistant forms G16 and 14-1 had a combination of the Pl-d and Pl-w genes. These accessions can be used as donors of powdery mildew resistance for breeding new apple clonal rootstocks.