Genetic mapping and pyramiding of two new pear scab resistance QTLs

Scab is one of the major fungal diseases infecting pear trees, causing the greatest economic losses. Identifying and pyramiding scab resistance factors should help in breeding new resistant pear cultivars. We have identified and mapped two new pear resistance loci against the fungal pathogen Venturia pirina. The first locus, mapped both as a major gene and as a QTL, is located on linkage group (LG) 01 of the hybrid P3480, deriving from the European pear cultivar ‘Wilder.’ It colocalizes with the Vnk resistance gene found in the Asian pear cultivar ‘Kinchaku’ against Venturia nashicola. A second locus, mapped as a QTL, is located on LG04 of the interspecific cultivar ‘Euras.’ In a small ‘Euras’ × P3480 progeny, seven seedlings carrying the resistant alleles at both loci have been selected using SSR markers