Stability of the association of molecular markers with common bacterial blight resistance in common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)

Common bacterial blight (CBB) caused by Xanthomonas campestris pv. phaseoli is an important disease of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) throughout the world. Two random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers (R7313 and R4865) linked to genes for CBB resistance, that were transferred to P. vulgaris by an interspecific cross with Phaseolus acutifolius, were identified in a previous study. The current study was conducted to examine the use of these markers for selecting CBB resistant material from 85 F(5:6) lines derived from crosses between two of the resistant lines used previously in the linkage study and susceptible breeding lines. The results showed that these two markers were located on the same linkage group and explained 22% (P = 0.0002) of the variation in response to CBB in the current population. Seventy per cent of the lines that had both markers were classified as resistant in a disease test of the F(5:6) lines, whereas 73% of the lines that had neither of the RAPD markers were susceptible. The results indicated that the marker-disease resistance associations remained stable in a plant breeding programme and that they can be used for marker-assisted selection of CBB-resistant beans.