MOLECULAR MARKERS LINKED WITH STERILITY MOSAICRESISTANCE IN PIGEONPEA (CAJANUS CAJAN L. MILLSP.)K.G. Kandarkar, N.S. Kute, S.A. Tajne, P.L. Kulwal and K.S. RaghuwanshiAbstract Background: Pigeonpea is an important protein-rich legume and one of the potential crops forrainfedagriculture in many parts of the semi-arid tropics. Worldwide, India ranks first both in area and production.Despite that, the productivity levels in India are low because of various biotic and abioticstresses, out ofwhich Sterility mosaic disease (SMD), which is caused by Pigeonpea Sterility Mosaic Virus (PPSMV), is asevere constraint during crop production. In the context of the above facts, resistant breedingis one of themost economical and eco-friendly approaches. The present investigation aimed to identifymicrosatellitemarkers linked to SMD resistance and potential resistant genetic resources. In this field-laboratoryinvestigation carried out during 2017-2018, thirty genotypes and susceptible check ICP 8863 were evaluatedin a randomized block design (RBD) with two replications in SMD sick plots. Observationswere recordedbased on visual symptoms for SMD incidence, and percent disease incidence (PDI) wascalculated. Inaddition, a molecular study for the same genotypes was carried out with a total of 20 SSR markers. Out of20 SSR primers, only 16 were amplified, from which only a single SSR marker (AHSSR20) showedpolymorphism while the remaining 15 were monomorphic. The marker AHSSR20 have thepotential todiscriminate resistant and susceptible genotypes. AHSSR 20 primer assign 160 bp bands in resistantgenotypes viz., BDN-711, PT-04-281, and PT-704-1-2 while ever, 172 bp bands assign in susceptible genotypesviz. ICP-8863, PT-04-378, PT-012-20, and PT-016-3. Accordingly, we conclude thatAHSSR20 is a potentmarker that can be helpful to discriminate between susceptible and resistant genotypes and can be used fordirect selection of resistant genotypes during early segregating generation and marker-assistedbreeding. |