Identification of simple sequence repeat markers associated with wilt resistance in pigeonpea

The present study was carried out with the objective of identifying markers for Fusarium wilt resistance in pigeonpea using simple sequence repeat (SSR) and bulk segregant analysis (BSA). The wilt resistant (ICPL 87119) and wilt susceptible (T. Vishakha-1) genotypes were crossed and their F2 population was used for marker analysis. Although, the parents were surveyed with 76 SSR primers to identify the polymorphic markers, only 26 primers were found polymorphic between the parents under study. The polymorphic information content scores of SSR markers ranged between 0.077 to 0.333, with an average of 0.18 per marker. These 26 primers were selected for BSA, which indicated that five SSR primers (PFW 26, PFW 31, PFW 38, PFW 56, and PFW 70) were able to distinguish the resistant and susceptible bulks and parents for wilt resistance. Hence, these five SSR markers can be utilized further for identification of wilt resistant genotypes of pigeon pea and for development of new wilt resistant varieties of pigeonpea.