RAPD and SCAR markers for resistance to acochyta blight in lentil

Resistance to ascochyta blight of lentil (Lens culinaris Medikus), caused by the fungus Ascochyta lentis, is determined by a single recessive gene, ral(2), in the lentil cultivar Indianhead. Sixty F-2 individuals from a cross between Eston (susceptible) and Indianhead (resistant) lentil were analyzed for the presence of random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers linked to the ral(2) gene, using bulked segregant analysis (BSA). Out of 800 decanucleotide primers screened, two produced polymorphic markers that co-segregated with the resistance locus. These two RAPD markers, UBC227(1290) and OPD-10(870), flanked and were linked in repulsion phase to the gene ral(2) at 12 cm and 16 cm, respectively. The RAPD fragments were converted to SCAR markers. The SCAR marker developed from UBC227(1290) could not detect any polymorphism between the two parents or in the F-2. The SCAR marker developed from OPD-10(870) retained its polymorphism. The polymorphic RAPD marker UBC227(1290) and the SCAR marker developed from OPD-10(870) can be used together in a marker assisted selection program for ascochyta blight resistance in lentil.