Investigation of resistance using STMS markers against Ascochyta blight in the chickpea varieties

Chickpea (Cicer arietinum L.), a prominent legume plant, is an important agricultural plant that is widely grown both in Turkiye and around the world. Ascochyta blight, caused by the fungal phytopathogen Ascochyta rabiei, is one of the major causative agents responsible for yield reductions across the spectrum of chickpea diseases. The impact of diseases varies depending on crops, countries, seasons and cropping systems, and yield loss data collected under well-defined conditions is limited. It is noteworthy that this pathogen shows significant genetic diversity in Turkiye's agricultural environment. In light of this, this study aimed to conduct a research to determine the resistant/tolerant and susceptible genotypes of 34 certificated chickpea varieties grown in different regions of Turkiye by using Sequence Tagged Microsatellite Site (STMS) markers that are related to the genes that provide resistance against Ascochyta blight. The results obtained in this study showed that the primers Ta2, Ta146 and Ts54 used as STMS markers have distinctive features in providing highly effective results in the detection of resistant/tolerant and susceptible varieties of Ascochyta blight.