Introgression of Striga Resistance Genes into a Sudanese Sorghum Cultivar, Tabat, Using Marker Assisted Selection (MAS)

Resistant crop cultivars provide the most economical, practical and sustainable method of Strigacontrol. However, the development of resistant sorghum cultivars slowed by the complexity of the environment and the host/parasite interactions, which made field resistance erratic and unreliable. Recent adventure of molecular markers to tag gene(s) that confer important traits offers new hope for Striga control. Significant progress has been made to identify molecular markers linked to Strigaresistance in sorghum variety, N13. Five genomic regions (QTLs) associated with Striga resistance were identified. Flanking simple sequence repeats (SSRs) markers to each QTL were also identified and made available.
 The aim of this study was to transfer Striga resistance from, N13 to an elite farmer preferred sorghum cultivar, Tabat. Generations of F1, BC1F1, BC1S1 and BC2F1 populations were developed. F1 and BC1F1 generations were first genotyped and progenies with two or more QTLs were backcrossed to generate BC1F1 and BC2F1, respectively. BC2F1 were further genotyped and progenies with two different QTLs were intercrossed for foreground selection. BC2F1 progenies were selfed to generate BC2S1, BC2S2 population. 19 progenies, BC1S1, with Striga resistance QTLs were tested in Striga artificial infested plots. Progenies with the two or more QTLs showed high levels of Striga field resistance, confirming the effectiveness of marker assisted selection (MAS). Significant differences were observed among the progeny tested in the level of Striga resistance and other agronomical traits.