The objective of this work was to associate a microsatellite marker with the Ty-1 allele that controls resistance to Begomovirus in tomatoes, and to assess the eficiency of this association in the selection of virus-resistant lines. Microsatellite markers SSR-47 and SSR-48 were tested in near isogenic tomato lines (LA-3473, LA-3474, LA-3475) with contrasting genotypes for the Ty-1 allele. The marker SSR-47 detected polymorphism in the lines, and was the only one used in the subsequent research phases. An association between the SSR-47 marker and the Ty-1 locus was detected, and its efficiency for selection of begomovirus-resistant genotypes in tomato was assessed. To confirm the selection efficiency, plants with contrasting banding patterns for the SSR-47 marker were tested for their reaction to Begomovirus. All plants with a single 191-bp band were resistant to Begomovirus, through inoculation test by grafting. Plants with a single 180-bp band were susceptible, and plants with both 191bp and 180 bp bands were resistant. The maximum distance between Ty-1 and the SSR-47 marker was 2.7 cM. This marker was efficient to identify genotypes bearing the Ty-1 allele. Plant responses to infection by Begomovirus inoculated through grafting were consistent with reactions predicted with the use of the SSR-47 marker.
Geminiviridae; Lycopersicon esculentum; Solanum lycopersicum; QTL; marker assisted selection
