Exploring horticultural traits and disease resistance in Capsicum baccatum through segmental introgression lines

Segmental introgression and advanced backcross lines were developed and validated as important tools for improving agronomically important traits in pepper, offering improved sensitivity in detecting quantitative trait loci for breeding. Segmental introgression lines (SILs) and advanced backcross lines (ABs) can accelerate genetics and genomics research and breeding in crop plants. This study presents the development of a complete collection of SILs and ABs in pepper using Capsicum annuum cv. 'CM334' as the recipient parent and Capsicum baccatum 'PBC81', which displays various agronomically important traits including powdery mildew and anthracnose resistance, as donor parent. Using embryo rescue to overcome abortion in interspecific crosses, and marker-assisted selection with genotyping-in-thousands by sequencing (GT-seq) to develop SILs and ABs containing different segments of the C. baccatum genome, we obtained 63 SILs and 44 ABs, covering 94.8% of the C. baccatum genome. We characterized them for traits including powdery mildew resistance, anthracnose resistance, anthocyanin accumulation, trichome density, plant architecture, and fruit morphology. We validated previously known loci for these traits and discovered new sources of variation and quantitative trait loci (QTLs). A total of 15 QTLs were identified, including four for anthracnose resistance with three novel loci, seven for plant architecture, and four for fruit morphology. This is the first complete collection of pepper SILs and ABs validated for agronomic traits and will enhance QTL detection and serve as valuable breeding resources. Further, these SILs and ABs will be useful for comparative genomics and to better understand the genetic mechanisms underlying important agronomic traits in pepper, ultimately leading to improved crop productivity and sustainability.