Research Objective
To confirm the function of a number of genes in the anthracnose fungus, Colletotrichum truncatum, that have been identified and are believe to be involved in virulence of the fungus; to systematically screen the library of genes activated by the lentil plant during the infection process and identify defense genes that can be exploited for resistance breeding; to screen germplasm currently identified as parents in crosses for the presence of those defense-related genes, in particular in material that could potentially have resistance genes to the more aggressive race 0.
Potential genes directly involved in triggering resistance in lentil cultivars were identified. A repertoire of 25 effectors from C. truncatum and 87 intracellular receptors, which have the potential to be used for the screening lentil germplasm, were identified with 34 being identified as very good candidates for R-genes based on further bioinformatics analysis. Three markers that differentiated between the fully susceptible cultivar Eston and the partially resistant cultivar CDC Robin were identified. Genes that differentiate between race 0 and race 1 were identified.