Uncovering Fusarium Species Associated with Fusarium Wilt in Chickpeas (Cicer arietinum L.) and the Identification of Significant Marker–Trait Associations for Resistance in the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas’ Chickpea Collection Using SSR Markers

Abstract

Enhancing plants’ resistance against FW is crucial for ensuring a sustainable global chickpea production. The present study focuses on the identification of fungal pathogens and the assessment of ninety-six chickpea samples for Fusarium wilt from the International Center for Agricultural Research in the Dry Areas (ICARDA)’s collection. Eight fungal isolates were recovered from the symptomatic chickpeas. Polyphasic identification was conducted by comparing the internal transcribed spacer region (ITS), the elongation factor 1-α (tef1-α), and beta-tubulin (tub2). Among them, Neocosmospora solani, N. nelsonii, N. falciformis, N. brevis, Fusarium brachygibbosum, and F. gossypinum were identified. An analysis of the genetic diversity of chickpeas, using 69 polymorphic simple sequence repeat (SSR) markers, revealed a total of 191 alleles across all markers, with, on average, each SSR marker detecting approximately 2.8 alleles. A STRUCTURE analysis delineated lines into two distinct sub-groups (K = 2). Association mapping, using the generalized linear model (GLM) and mixed linear model (MLM) approaches, identified six and five marker–trait associations (MTAs) for FW resistance, respectively. Notably, these TA42, TA125 (A) and TA125 (B), TA37, and TAASH MTAs, commonly found in both models, emerge as potential candidates for the targeted enhancement of FW resistance in chickpeas. To our knowledge, this study represents an inaugural report on the association mapping of genomic loci governing FW resistance in chickpeas from the ICARDA’s accessions.