Resistance screening of pea against a complex of root-rot pathogens

Pea (Pisum sativum L.) is highly prone to soil-borne pathogens and rotation breaks of up to ten years are recommended to avoid the build-up of high pathogen loads in the field. This stands in conflict with efforts to increase acreage of pea to strengthen low input farming systems and meet the pro- tein demand of a growing world population. Pea cultivars resistant against individual pathogen species exist, but not against pathogen complexes present under field conditions. Incorporating the microbial complexity present in the rhizosphere into plant variety testing is a potential means to harness beneficial plant-microbe interactions for resistance breeding programs