Introgression of Scab Resistance Gene Vf (Rvi6) in commercially grown Susceptible Cultivar Fuji Azitec of apple (Malus domestica) using Marker Assisted Selection

Apple (Malus x domestica Borkh.) being most important remunerative crop grown in temperate regions, is highly susceptible to apple scab disease. Development of resistance in pathogen and huge investment on fungicides by farmers becomes an issue. These concerns among masses justify an alternative management approach of disease resistance to reduce the fungicide use. Therefore, present study was focused on introgression of scab resistance gene in cultivar Fuji Azitec using phenotypic and marker assisted screening in hybrids developed from crosses between Fuji Azitec with different resistant parents. Mendelian segregation ratio of 1:1 for susceptible and resistant hybrids was observed. The Vf gene expression in resistant hybrids was more as compared to susceptible ones from all cross combinations. Hence from our study the resistant hybrids obtained have the potential for being utilized as commercial varieties after evaluation for important pomological traits and also resistant gene source in downstream breeding programmes.