Identification of Two QTLs Contolling Flax Resistance to Fusarium Wilt

Abstract

Bulk segregant analysis was applied to the evaluation of F2 population developed by crossing two flax cultivars which differ in the resistance genes to Fusarium wilt. The causative agent of this disease, the fungus Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lini, is one of the main flax pathogens causing enormous economic damage to the linen industry worldwide. DNA pools of highly resistant and susceptible F2 plants to Fusarium wilt were sequenced and subsequent data analysis identified two regions on chromosomes 9 and 13 that conferred resistance to Fusarium wilt. Candidate genes for subsequent analysis were selected by functional gene annotation and by analyzing the expression of genes in QTL regions based on data generated in transcriptomic experiment made with the infected flax cultivar Atalante resistant to Fusarium. By combining these two approaches, three candidate genes were identified within each of QTL regions which, according to the literature data, are involved in the plant response to infection and have been differentially expressed in the transcriptomics experiment.