Unraveling rust resistance in garden pea through multi-environment phenotyping and molecular characterization
摘要
Pea rust caused by Uromyces spp. is a major biotic constraint to garden pea production. Utilization of resistant source is considered as an effective and eco-friendly strategy for controlling this complex disease. However, resistance against this pathogen is partial and influenced by environmental conditions. Therefore, to understand the resistance variability, a diverse panel of 75 garden pea genotypes were evaluated across two locations over two years (2021–2023). Statistical analysis revealed significant genetic variability among the genotypes for rust disease severity, pustule size and density. The disease severity of screened genotypes were ranged from 2.22 to 91.11% (Ludhiana 2021), 2.96–85.19% (Ludhiana 2022) and 3.70-95.56% (Gurdaspur 2022) while, AUDPC value of identified hotspot area (Gurdaspur 2022) for rust disease ranged from 68 to 1663.65. Based on multi-environment phenotypic data, different genotypes were classified into Resistant (3), Moderately susceptible (18), Susceptible (40) and Highly Susceptible (12). The genotypes viz., Arka Priya, Nepal and Arka Ajit consistently demonstrating resistance at all locations over the years. Additionally, pustule size and density showed strong positive correlations with disease severity, highlighting their importance as a reliable indicator of resistance. Validation of resistance using molecular marker AA505 revealed that only ArkaPriya and Nepal showed the desired amplicon size, confirming their rust-resistant traits. However, discrepancies between molecular and phenotypic data were observed for some of the genotypes suggesting the need for development of robust gene-based markers to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of marker-assisted selection (MAS) in garden pea breeding programmes.