Abstract
Ascochyta blight (AB) caused by Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Labr. is an important and widespread disease of chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) worldwide. The disease is particularly severe under cool and humid weather conditions. Breeding for host resistance is an efficient means to combat this disease. In this paper, attempts have been made to summarize the progress made in identifying resistance sources, genetics and breeding for resistance, and genetic variation among the pathogen population. The search for resistance to AB in chickpea germplasm, breeding lines and land races using various screening methods has been updated. Importance of the genotype × environment (GE) interaction in elucidating the aggressiveness among isolates from different locations and the identification of pathotypes and stable sources of resistance have also been discussed. Current and modern breeding programs for AB resistance based on crossing resistant/multiple resistant and high-yielding cultivars, stability of the breeding lines through multi-location testing and molecular marker-assisted selection method have been discussed. Gene pyramiding and the use of resistant genes present in wild relatives can be useful methods in the future. Identification of additional sources of resistance genes, good characterization of the host–pathogen system, and identification of molecular markers linked to resistance genes are suggested as the key areas for future study.
Highlights
Ascochyta blight (AB), caused by Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Labr., is an important disease of chickpea in many countries (India, Bangladesh, Algeria, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, Spain, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, USA, Australia and Canada) where cool and humid weather prevails during the flowering to podding stage [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
We summarize here the progress made towards understanding variations in A. rabiei populations, genetics of resistance, resistance sources and genotype by environment (G E) interactions
Considerable progress has been made in the last decade in understanding the AB pathogen and its genetics of resistance in chickpea
Summary
Ascochyta blight (AB), caused by Ascochyta rabiei (Pass.) Labr., is an important disease of chickpea in many countries (India, Bangladesh, Algeria, Israel, Italy, Morocco, Nepal, Spain, Pakistan, Syria, Iran, USA, Australia and Canada) where cool and humid weather prevails during the flowering to podding stage [1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Understanding pathogen population structure is important for the deployment of resistant cultivars and for developing suitable strategies to reduce disease. The nature of evolution against quantitative resistance differs from the evolution against major gene resistance, and is better characterized as a process of “erosion”, rather than a process of “breakdown”. This erosion is difficult to detect because corresponding pathogen populations can display a range of pathogenicity that may vary considerably from year to year as a result of strong genotype by environment (G E) interactions [18]. We summarize here the progress made towards understanding variations in A. rabiei populations, genetics of resistance, resistance sources and G E interactions
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