ISSN 2756-3847
International Journal of Plant Breeding and Genetics ISSN: 5756-2148 Vol. 3 (6), pp. 233-240, November, 2016. © International Scholars Journals
Full Length Research Paper
Introgression of Striga resistance gene into farmers’ preferred cowpea varieties in Niger
M. Salifou1, J. B. L. S. Tignegre2, P. Tongoona3, S. Offei3, K. Ofori3 and E. Danquah3
1National Agricultural Research Institute of Niger, Maradiregionalresearch center, Niger.
2The world Vegetable Centre, West and Central Africa Samanko research station, Bamako, Mali.
3West Africa Centre for Crop Improvement, University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana.
E-mail: [email protected]
Received 11 October, 2016; Revised 11 November, 2016; Accepted 14 November, 2016 and Published 23 November, 2016
Abstract
Striga gesnerioides (Wild.) Vatke, a parasitic flowering plant is one of the main biotic sources of stresses that challenge cowpea production in drought-prone areas. At least seven races of S. gesnerioides with differential virulence on cowpea cultivars have been identified in West and Central Africa. This renders breeding effort very delicate. However the identification of molecular markers tightly linked to the various Striga races opened the way to the marker assisted selection for the resistance to S. gesnerioides in cowpea.The objective of this study was to introgress one Striga resistant gene (Rsg1) into susceptible and adapted cowpea genotypes. Marker assisted selection with backcross breeding was used to transfer Rsg1Striga resistant gene from the breeding line IT93K-693-2 into three farmers’ preferred varieties; IT90K-372-1-2, KVx30-309-6G and TN5-78. The microsatellite marker SSR1 was used to tract and introgress the resistant marker were selected in BC2F3, BC3F3 and F6 populations derived from the crosses IT90K-372-1-2 x IT93K-693-2 and TN5-78 x IT93K-693-2. Further evaluations and improvement of these genotypes will accelerate the release of varieties combining farmers’ preferred traits with stable resistance to Striga.
Key words: cowpea, farmers’ preferred varieties, introgression, Striga gesnerioides, Striga resistant gene.