Characterization in populations of Coffea arabica L. for resistance to CBD using molecular markers

Abstract

Coffee berry disease (CBD) is caused by the fungus Colletotrichum kahawae Waller and Bridge. This disease is restricted to the African continent, where it can cause production losses of more than 80% when susceptible varieties are used or when the indicated chemical control is not carried out. For this reason, since 1970, Cenicafé has developed lines resistant to this disease in the absence of the pathogen, a process that has been favored by the discovery and validation of microsatellite markers associated with the Ck-1 gene for resistance to CBD. In this research, 12 populations of Coffea arabica were characterized for their resistance to CBD using the molecular markers Sat235, Sat207 and FR34-6CTG. The molecular markers allowed us to identify that the same allelic form of resistance to CBD is present in lines derived from Timor Hybrid CIFC 1343 (HdT CIFC 1343). Furthermore, the allelic form of resistance associated with the three molecular markers was identified in one line derived from Coffea canephora. In lines derived from Caturra x HdT CIFC 1343 it was evident that, when the plants present the allelic forms of resistance identified by the molecular markers, high percentages of hypocotyls resistant to different isolates of C. kahawae are observed in the progeny.