Molecular marker validation and identification of Fusarium wilt resistant chickpea genotypes

Fusarium wilt is one of the most destructive biotic stress reducing chickpea productivity worldwide. As a step towards understanding the basis of wilt resistance in chickpea, we investigated the morpho-physiological and biochemical traits of 29 desi and 15 kabuli chickpea genotypes and screened these genotypes for fusarium wilt disease using gene based molecular markers. The number of branches per plant were significant and positively correlated with number of pods per plant (r=0.635) and number of seed per plant (r=0.556) at 1% significance level. Biochemical parameters related to stresses were also analyzed for proline (1.19-3.92 µ mol/g), sugar (23.6-37.4 mg/g), malondialdehyde (MDA) (1.1 -3.67 nmol/g) and hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) (10.4-21.5 µ mol/g) in seeds of these genotypes grown under normal field conditions. Molecular screening was done by using15 gene-based markers. Polymorphic Information Content (PIC) value was in the range of 0.221 to 0.695, respectively. The genotypes JG-63 and Vijay identified during the investigation could be included in the hybridization programs during development of high yielding and wilt resistant varieties. The molecular markers TA194, TA-59, TA-96, TR-19, TR-29 and TR-31 can be used as marker assisted breeding tools for screening, validation and development of fusarium wilt resistant chickpea genotypes.