The sources and genetics of root-knot nematode (genus Meloidogyne) resistance in plants are discussed. General considerations and protocols for screening for root-knot nematode resistance are also presented.

BackgroundGenomic selection exploits dense genome-wide marker data to predict breeding values. In this study we used a large sugar beet population of 924 lines representing different germplasm types present in breeding populations: unselected segregating families and diverse lines from more advanced stages of selection. All lines have been intensively phenotyped in multi-location field trials for six agronomically important traits and genotyped with 677 SNP markers.ResultsWe used ridge regression best linear unbiased prediction in combination with fivefold cross-validation and obtained high prediction accuracies for all except one trait. In addition, we investigated whether a calibration developed based on a training population composed of diverse lines is suited to predict the phenotypic performance within families. Our results show that the prediction accuracy is lower than that obtained within the diverse set of lines, but comparable to that obtained by cross-validation within the respective families.ConclusionsThe results presented in this study suggest that a training population derived from intensively phenotyped and genotyped diverse lines from a breeding program does hold potential to build up robust calibration models for genomic selection. Taken together, our results indicate that genomic selection is a valuable tool and can thus complement the genomics toolbox in sugar beet breeding.

The mutation epsilon1267delG might be frequent in European congenital myasthenic syndrome patients of Gypsy ethnic origin. In general, patients (epsilon1267delG) were characterized by the onset of symptoms in early infancy, the presence of ophthalmoparesis, positive response to anticholinesterase treatment, and the benign natural course of the disease.

Recent results indicate that association mapping in populations from applied plant breeding is a powerful tool to detect QTL which are of direct relevance for breeding. The focus of this study was to unravel the genetic architecture of six agronomic traits in sugar beet. To this end, we employed an association mapping approach, based on a very large population of 924 elite sugar beet lines from applied plant breeding, fingerprinted with 677 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers covering the entire genome. We show that in this population linkage disequilibrium decays within a short genetic distance and is sufficient for the detection of QTL with a large effect size. To increase the QTL detection power and the mapping resolution a much higher number of SNPs is required. We found that for QTL detection, the mixed model including only the kinship matrix performed best, even in the presence of a considerable population structure. In genome-wide scans, main effect QTL and epistatic QTL were detected for all six traits. Our full two-dimensional epistasis scan revealed that for complex traits there appear to be epistatic master regulators, loci which are involved in a large number of epistatic interactions throughout the genome.

Over 5000 plants from 64 tuber-bearing wild Solanum spp . have been individually screened for resistance to Meloidogyne chitwoodi, M. fallax and M. hapla. Seedlings were analyzed by means of counting number of egg masses and resistance was verified by retesting low-scoring plants using stem cuttings . Resistance to both M. chitwoodi and M. fallax was observed in S. bulbocastanum, S. cardiophyllum, S. brachistotrichum, S . fendleri and S. hougasii. Only in S. chacoense and to a lesser extent in S . stoloniferum and S. gourlayi differential results between M. chitwoodi and M. fallax were observed. Resistance to M. hapla was found in S. bulbocastanum, S. brachistotrichum, S. cardiophyllum, S . arnezii, S . chacoense, S. tarijense, S . boliviense, S. gourlayi, S. microdontum, S. sparsipilum, S . spegazzinii, S. sucrense, S . acaule and S. hougasii . The occurrence of resistance in wild Solanum species in relation to their taxonomic status and the implications for introgression of resistance into S . tuberosum are discussed .