Development of new molecular markers for resistance to Verticillium sp in Italian tomato landraces

The so-called “Rosa” ( = pink) tomatoes, which are typically grown in the regions of the South Italy, are characterized by the pink colour of the fruit, due to the gene “y”, “colourless fruit skin”. In an our preliminary survey among these “Rosa” tomatoes, some “Sorrentino” local landraces have been found to be resistant to Verticillium wilt (race 1). In tomato, the resistance to races 1 of V. dahliae and V. albo-atrum is conferred by two strictly associated genes, Ve1 and Ve2, which are independently able to confer resistance to the same pathogen. The development of two new markers for Ve1 and Ve2, based respectively on selective allele-specific PCR amplification and on a PCR amplification followed by enzymatic restriction, is presented. These two markers allow the identification of both the allelic forms at the Ve loci and are of valuable interest for the application in the marker-assisted selection. Furthermore, it has been assessed that “Sorrentino” lines own the same resistance alleles found in the common Ve resistant cultivars.