Institut für Züchtungsforschung an gartenbaulichen Kulturen
Large asparagus production areas in Europe are contaminated with Fusarium oxysporum causes the crown and root rot disease on asparagus. Fusarium infections lead to significant yield and quality losses and a reduction of the economic life span of the asparagus stocks (asparagus decline). Resistant cultivars are not available so far. Therefore, breeding approaches are of substantial importance for the competitiveness and sustainability of the asparagus production. Project aim is the creation of the methodical requirements for breeding asparagus resistant to F. oxysporum. The project comprise four main topics: i) the development and optimization of resistance screening methods, ii) the evaluation of genetic resources of asparagus (cultivars, landraces, wild relatives) and selection of resistant genotypes, iii) intra- and interspecific hybridizations to transfer the resistance into adapted breeding material. Although pre-breeding lines from a previous project with resistance to the Asparagus virus 1 (AV-1) shall be introduced to develop pre-breeding lines with a combined AV-1 and Fusarium resistance. Public asparagus genome data and comprehensive genomic information from the JKI research program shall iv) used for the identification of resistance genes and the development of marker-assisted selection strategies.
Rijk Zwaan Breeding B.V.
