Abstract
Genetic enhancement for resistance against the pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera is crucial for enhancing production and productivity of chickpea. Here we provide some novel insights into the genetic architecture of natural variation in H. armigera resistance in chickpea, an important legume, which plays a major role in food and nutritional security. An interspecific recombinant inbred line (RIL) population developed from a cross between H. armigera susceptible accession ICC 4958 (Cicer arietinum) and resistant accession PI 489777 (Cicer reticulatum) was evaluated for H. armigera resistance component traits using detached leaf assay and under field conditions. A high-throughput AxiomCicerSNP array was utilized to construct a dense linkage map comprising of 3,873 loci and spanning a distance of 949.27 cM. Comprehensive analyses of extensive genotyping and phenotyping data identified nine main-effect QTLs and 955 epistatic QTLs explaining up to 42.49% and 38.05% phenotypic variance, respectively, for H. armigera resistance component traits. The main-effect QTLs identified in this RIL population were linked with previously described genes, known to modulate resistance against lepidopteran insects in crop plants. One QTL cluster harbouring main-effect QTLs for three H. armigera resistance component traits and explaining up to 42.49% of the phenotypic variance, was identified on CaLG03. This genomic region, after validation, may be useful to improve H. armigera resistance component traits in elite chickpea cultivars.
Highlights
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important food legume crops cultivated on marginal lands in more than 56 countries and contributes considerably to the food and nutritional security
The significant features of component traits and statistical analyses, such as mean performance of parents, variations in recombinant inbred line (RIL), broad-sense heritability (H2) and source of variations for traits phenotyped using the RIL population are provided in Supplemental Table S1
The RIL population was characterized using detached leaf assay in the laboratory and under field conditions for H. armigera resistance component traits
Summary
Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.) is one of the most important food legume crops cultivated on marginal lands in more than 56 countries and contributes considerably to the food and nutritional security. Among multiple pests damaging this crop, the pod borer, Helicoverpa armigera (Hübner), which is the single most key yield reducing factor in food legumes, causes an estimated loss of US$ 328 million in chickpea. Worldwide, it causes a projected economic loss of about US $2 billion annually, despite using insecticides costing over US $1 billion to control this pest (Sharma, Varshney, Gaur, & Gowda, 2008). With the anticipated climate change, there is a rising demand to develop improved chickpea varieties with a higher yield, and disease and pest resistance to meet the needs of the burgeoning population throughout the world
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