SNP markers associated with responses of citrus germplasm accessions to infection with the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus

Abstract

Citriculture is one of the main agro-industrial activities in the State of São Paulo. Currently, production costs have increased due to the management necessary for the maintenance of orchards in front of Huanglongbing (HLB), one of the main threats in the world citrus industry. The search for genotypes that show greater tolerance to the bacteria has been one of the biggest challenges in citrus breeding programs. In this project, an experimental network of new rootstocks, different citrandarins, pre-selected in previous studies, have been evaluated in an experimental network of new rootstocks, which are expected to define genotypes that may confer lower susceptibility of the scion/canopy variety to CLas, smaller size to the scion varieties, thus contributing for the management of HLB and facilitate of cultural treatments. In addition, a population with 575 accessions from the Active Germplasm Bank (BAG Citrus) of the Citriculture Center, including citrandarins, will be phenotyped for responses to infection with the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus and genotyped with SNP-type markers obtained through the method GBS (Genotyping-by-Sequencing). At the end of this work, we intend to identify and associate SNPs markers with resistance to HLB. With this, it will be possible to help the citrus genetic improvement program to develop strategies that accelerate the improvement process through selection assisted by markers. (AU)