Development of User-friendly Markers for Disease Resistance to Potato Virus Y (PVY) and Black Root Rot (BRR) in Burley Tobacco

The Kentucky-Tennessee Tobacco Improvement Initiative (KTTII) is a unique collaborative effort to enhance and support the tobacco industry in Kentucky and Tennessee through tobacco breeding and genetics. The development of multiple disease resistant tobacco varieties through gene pyramiding of resistance to black shank, blue mold, black root rot (BRR), potato virus Y (PVY) and tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) is an important objective of KTTII. The primary requirement for a successful tobacco breeding effort is the identification of genetic variability for traits of interest, and the ability to incorporate those traits into commercial varieties that have agronomic characteristics needed by growers. Before the availability of molecular marker techniques, inoculation and phenotypic identification was the only method utilized by KTTII to identify variability for disease resistance. Space limitations in disease nurseries and variable climatic conditions which influence epidemic development retard progress in breeding for resistance to disease pathogens in tobacco. Here we are proposing to develop user-friendly markers for disease resistance to PVY and BRR, facilitating tobacco breeding process greatly wit