Molecular markers closely linked to fusarium resistance genes in chickpea show significant alignments to pathogenesis-related genes located on Arabidopsis chromosomes 1 and 5.

A population of 131 recombinant inbred lines from a wide cross between chickpea ( Cicer arietinum L., resistant parent) and Cicer reticulatum (susceptible parent) segregating for the closely linked resistances against Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. ciceri races 4 and 5 was used to develop DNA amplification fingerprinting markers linked to both resistance loci. Bulked segregant analysis revealed 19 new markers on linkage group 2 of the genetic map on which the resistance genes are located. Closest linkage (2.0 cM) was observed between marker R-2609-1 and the race 4 resistance locus. Seven other markers flanked this locus in a range from 4.1 to 9.0 cM. These are the most closely linked markers available for this locus up to date. The sequences of the linked markers were highly similar to genes encoding proteins involved in plant pathogen response, such as a PR-5 thaumatin-like protein and an important regulator of the phytoalexin pathway, anthranilate N-hydroxycinnamoyl-benzoyltransferase. Others showed significant alignments to genes encoding housekeeping enzymes such as the MutS2 DNA-mismatch repair protein. In the Arabidopsis genome, similar genes are located on short segments of chromosome 1 and 5, respectively, suggesting synteny between the fusarium resistance gene cluster of chickpea and the corresponding regions in the Arabidopsis genome. Three marker sequences were similar to retrotransposon-derived and/or satellite DNA sequences. The markers developed here provide a starting point for physical mapping and map-based cloning of the fusarium resistance genes and exploration of synteny in this highly interesting region of the chickpea genome.