Mapping of disease resistance in ornamentals: A long haul

Although disease control is of importance in ornamental production, breeding efforts to reach higher levels of resistance in most ornamental breeding programs have been relatively limited. If resistance is considered as a selection criterion it is often used at a relative late stage in the breeding process or when cultivars are in the trialling stage. This is due to a number of specific problems related to ornamental breeding such as the many different ornamental crops and ploidy level in a number of the most important ornamentals. Nevertheless, in the last few years a number of new developments have changed the roadmaps for research in the life sciences and also the feasibility of disease resistance mapping and marker assisted breeding in ornamentals. A number of examples of these new developments will be presented as well as some direct applications for disease mapping research in tulip will be shown