Two simple sequence repeat markers to select for soybean cyst nematode resistance coditioned by the rhg1 locus

The soybean cyst nematode (SCN) (Heterodera glycines Inchinoe) is the most economically significant soybean pest. The principal strategy to reduce or eliminate damage from this pest is the use of resistant cultivars. Identifying resistant segregants in a breeding program is a difficult and expensive process which is complicated by the oligogenic nature of the resistance and genetic variability in the pathogen. Fortunately, resistance at one SCN-resistance locus, rhg1, is generally accepted as a necessity for the development of resistant genotypes using any source of resistance and when challenged by any SCN race. Thus, the development of SCN resistant cultivars would be expedited if an effective and rapid system were available to identify breeding lines carrying a resistance allele at the rhg1 locus. In this study we report two simple sequence repeat (SSR) or microsatellite loci that cosegregate and map 0.4 cM from rhg1. Allelic variation at the first of these loci, BARC-Satt309, distinguished most, if not all, SCN-susceptible genotypes from those carrying resistance at rhg1 derived from the important SCN-resistance sources 'Peking', PI 437654, and PI 90763. BARC-Satt309 was also effective in distinguishing SCN resistance sources PI 88788 and PI 209332 from many, but not all, susceptible genotypes. BARC-Satt309 cannot be used in marker-assisted selection in populations developed from typical southern US cultivars crossed with the important resistance sources PI 88788 or PI 209332 because these genotypes all carry the identical allele at the BARC-Satt309 locus. A second SSR locus, BARC-Sat 68, was developed from a bacterial artificial chromosome (BAC) clone that was identified using the primers to BARC-Satt309. BARC-Sat 168 distinguished PI 88788 and PI 209332 from southern US cultivars such as 'Lee', 'Bragg' and 'Essex'. Both BARC-Satt309 and BARC-Sat 168 were used to assay lines from SCN-susceptible x SCN-resistant crosses and proved to be highly effective in identifying lines carrying rhg1 resistance from those carrying the allele for SCN susceptibility at the rhg1 locus.