Identification of AFLP and SSR markers associated with quantitative resistance to Globodera pallida (Stone) in tetraploid potato (Solanum tuberosum subsp. tuberosum) with a view to marker-assisted selection

Seventy eight clones from the cross between SCRI clone 12601ab1 and cv Stirling were used to explore the possibility of genetical linkage analysis in tetraploid potato (Solanum tuberosum subsp. tuberosum). Clone 12601ab1 had quantitative resistance to Globodera pallida Pa2/3 derived from S. tuberosum subsp. andigena. The strategy adopted involved identifying single- (simplex) and double- (duplex) dose AFLP markers in the parents from segregation ratios that could be unambiguously identified in their offspring, detecting linkage between a marker and a putative quantitative trait locus (QTL) for resistance, and placing the QTL on the linkage map of markers. The numbers of scorable segregating markers were 162 simplex ones present only in 12601ab1, 87 present in Stirling, and 32 present in both; and 72 duplex markers present only in 12601ab1 and 45 present in Stirling. The total map length was 990.9cM in 12601ab1 and 484.6 cM in Stirling. A QTL with a resistance allele present in double dose (QQqq) in 12601ab1 was inferred from the associations between resistance scores (square root of female counts) and two duplex markers linked in coupling, which, in turn, were linked in coupling to four simplex markers also associated with resistance, but to a lesser degree. The largest marker class difference was the one for the duplex marker P61M34 = 15. It accounted for 27.8% of the phenotypic variance in resistance scores, or approximately 30% of the genotypic variance. Subsequently, this duplex marker was found to be linked in coupling with a duplex SSR allele Stm3016 = a, whose locus was shown to be on chromosome IV in a diploid reference mapping population. The other QTLs for resistance segregating in the progeny were not identified for one or more of the following reasons: the markers did not cover the whole of the genome, there were unfavourable repulsion linkages between the QTLs and markers, or the gene effects were not large enough to be detected in an experiment of the size conducted. It is concluded that prospects appear good for detecting QTLs and using marker-assisted selection in a tetraploid potato breeding programme, provided that, in future, the population size is increased to over 250 and more SSR markers are used to complement the AFLPs; the same is likely to be true for other autotetraploid crops.