Molecular screening of anthracnose resistance allele Rca2 in strawberry varieties and selected forms

Anthracnose (Colletotrichum acutatum) is a dangerous strawberry disease. In the Eurasian Economic Union, C. acutatum is a quarantine pathogen. Therefore, an important aim is identification and creation of new strawberry forms with genetically determined resistance. Use of diagnostic DNA markers of target genes’ resistance alleles will increase reliability of identification and effectiveness of breeding process. The purpose of this study was molecular screening of anthracnose resistance allele Rca2 in strawberry varieties and selected seedlings to identify forms with genetically determined resistance to C. acutatum. The objects of the study were 1st variety of strawberry hybrids (F. × anashata Kantor.) and 53 genotypes of garden strawberry (F. × ananassa Duch.): 38 varieties and 16 selected forms. Molecular screening of Rca2 resistance allele was carried out using the DNA marker STS-Rca2_240. To control the PCR progress, the marker STS-Rca2_240 was multiplexed with the marker EMFv020. As a result of the analysis, the marker fragment of the Rca2 gene was identified in 14 (25.9 %) of the 54 analyzed strawberry samples. Among the strawberry varieties, the marker is present in 8 forms (21.1 %), and among the selected forms – in 6 samples (37.5 %). In the remaining analyzed strawberry samples, Rca2 gene is represented by the rca2 allele in homozygous state. Among the Russian strawberry varieties, the Rca2 gene is present in the variety of Dar (heterozygous combination of alleles). Among the foreign strawberry forms, Rca2 gene was identified in the varieties of Aprica, Florence, Laetitia, Malwina, Monterey, Portola and Selva (homozygous (Rca2 allele) or heterozygous combination of alleles). Among the analyzed strawberry selected forms, Rca2 gene in heterozygous form was identified in hybrids 2/1-24 (Quicky × Olympia), 3/9-28 (Florence × Faith), 4/7-10, 4/7-19 (Asia × Aprica), and 5/2-26, 5/2-32 (San Andreas × Monterey). These genotypes are genetic sources of resistance to anthracnose and can be used in marker-assisted breeding. 

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