Novel fusarium wilt resistance genes uncovered in the wild progenitors and heirloom cultivars of strawberry

Fusarium wilt of strawberry (Fragaria x ananassa), a devastating soilborne disease caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. fragariae, poses a significant threat to production in many parts of the world. This pathogen causes wilting, collapse, and death in susceptible genotypes. We previously identified a dominant gene (FW1) on chromosome 2B that confers resistance to race 1 of the pathogen and hypothesized that gene-for-gene resistance to Fusarium wilt was widespread in strawberry. To explore this, a genetically diverse collection of heirloom and modern cultivars and wild octoploid ecotypes were screened for resistance to Fusarium wilt races 1 and 2. Here we show that resistance to both races is widespread and that resistance to race 1 is mediated by dominant genes (FW1, FW2, FW3, FW4, and FW5) on three non-homoeologous chromosomes (1A, 2B, and 6B). The resistance proteins encoded by these genes are not yet known; however, plausible candidates were identified that encode pattern recognition receptor or other proteins known to mediate gene-for-gene resistance in plants. High-throughput genotyping assays for SNPs in linkage disequilibrium with FW1-FW5 were developed to facilitate marker-assisted selection and accelerate the development of race 1 resistant cultivars. This study laid the foundation for identifying the genes encoded by FW1-FW5, in addition to exploring the genetics of resistance to race 2 and other races of the pathogen, as a precaution to averting a Fusarium wilt pandemic.This data submission contains phenotypic data, genotypic data, and scripts used for the generation of genetic maps in Pincot et al. (2022) "Novel Fusarium Wilt Resistance Genes Uncovered in the Wild Progenitors and Heirloom Cultivars of Strawberry". Please reference the readme.txt file for further details. Funding provided by: University of California, DavisCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100007707Award Number: Funding provided by: National Institute of Food and AgricultureCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100005825Award Number: 2017-51181-26833Funding provided by: California Strawberry CommissionCrossref Funder Registry ID: http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/100006760Award Number