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Zebra-stem of tomato is a disorder characterized by leaf necrosis, wilting, and a stripped pattern on stems of mature plants. Wilting, necrosis, and death of seedlings are also observed. The physiological and genetic causes of zebra-stem are poorly characterized. Anecdotal evidence has suggested pedigrees with S. pimpinellifolium and bacterial speck resistance in the genetic background are often prone to this disorder. We demonstrate a genetic cause using composite interval mapping and association analysis approaches to define quantitative trait loci (QTLs) that contribute to the disorder. A biparental population of F4 partially inbred families was developed for the initial analysis, and four subsequent backcross or F2 populations were used for subsequent validation. Significant QTLs on chromosomes 5 and 10 were identified, explaining ~60% and 40% of the variation, respectively. Polymorphisms in the Pto locus are strongly associated with the QTL on chromosome 5. The two loci were derived from different parentage, and a significant interaction effect was demonstrated, resulting in the characteristic zebra-stem symptoms when combined. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the Bacterial spot which is a devastating disease affecting all market classes of field-grown tomato produced in humid regions. It mentions that the breeding for resistance to this disease is complicated because bacterial spot is caused by four species of Xanthomonas with multiple physiological races recognized for some species.

The economics of processing tomato production are driven by soluble solids content, viscosity, color, and color uniformity of the fruit. Ripening disorders that affect color are a major limitation to the economic success of processing whole-peel and diced products. The causes of ripening disorders are not completely understood, although it is clear that soil nutritional status, weather, plant genetics, and interactions among these variables are important factors. We sampled both soil and fruit from fields in Michigan, Ohio, and Indiana and were able to correlate soil fertility properties and fruit color. The correlation between soil properties and fruit color was different for fine- and coarse-textured soils. Fine-textured soils presented more frequent, but weaker, correlations with absolute color and within-fruit color differences when compared with coarse-textured soils. For fine-textured soils, exchangeable K correlated with a measure of within-fruit variation, L* difference (L*diff; r = -0.21, P < 0.01). Other measurements of K nutrition, K·Mg-1/2 ratio, Kact, and K%CEC, all correlated to the same extent (r = -0.29, P< 0.01). The highest correlations were identified between soil-available P and L* (r = -0.33, P < 0.01) and L*diff (r = -0.31, P < 0.01). In coarse-textured soils, exchangeable K correlated with L* (r = -0.373, P < 0.05), b* (r = -0.49, P < 0.01) and Hue° (r = -0.37, P < 0.05). K·Mg-1/2 ratio and Kact yielded higher correlation coefficients with absolute color measurements when compared with fine-textured soils. Soil-available P was correlated with L* (r = -0.375, P < 0.05), a* (r = 0.49, P < 0.01), Hue° (r = -0.46, P < 0.01), and C* (r = 0.40, P < 0.01). For coarse soils, K·Mg-1/2 ratio, Kact, and available P were important properties when the color of tomato fruit is of value. In all cases, higher exchangeable K and P nutrient status had a positive correlation with fruit color. Our sampling could not detect interactions among weather, genetics, and soil, and further work will be necessary to clearly describe the role of interactions in determining fruit quality in tomatoes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Describes the Ohio 9834 and Ohio 9816 processing tomato inbreds tested in plot trials in the midwestern and eastern U.S., in Ontario, Canada and Victoria, Australia. Origin of the tomato inbreds; Physical description; Resistance property of the tomato to bacterial spot.

Bacterial, fungal, and viral diseases of tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) are responsible for widespread yield losses, especially in humid growing environments. Chromosome 11 of tomato contains genes that modulate resistance to several prominent tomato pathogens, including bacterial spot caused by Xanthomonas spp., gray leaf spot caused by Stemphylium spp., Fusarium wilt caused by race 2 of Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. lycopersici, and tomato yellow leaf curl virus (TYLCV) caused by begomoviruses. Major resistance loci are quantitative trait locus 11 (QTL-11) and Xv3/Rx4 for bacterial spot, Sm for gray leaf spot, I2 for Fusarium wilt, and Ty-2 for TYLCV. Marker-assisted selection was used to select for rare recombination events that combined these resistance loci into a linked cassette that can be inherited together in future crosses. A pedigree breeding strategy was used with marker-assisted selection and used to identify a novel coupling of Xv3/Rx4 and Ty-2. Recombination between the two genes was estimated as 0.056 cM, demonstrating that effective combinations of resistance can be established using publicly available germplasm. Progeny from the recombinant plants were screened using inoculated seedling trials to confirm resistance. The recombinants identified maintained resistance levels similar to the resistant controls. Trial results suggest that the trait markers on chromosome 11 are tightly linked to the respective resistance loci and are effective for selecting plants with resistance to the target diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato is an important cash crop in many developing countries. However, smallholder farmers often lack access to improved cultivars and breeding programs to develop locally adapted cultivars are limited. Participatory crop improvement (PCI) approaches can be used to increase farmer access to improved cultivars. In this project, we used the mother and baby trial (MBT) design to introduce and evaluate tomato cultivars in three villages in the Morogoro Region of Tanzania. Mother trials were conducted in seven environments within the three villages, and variance partitioning revealed significant genetic effects for all traits measured with h² ranging from 0.74 to 0.90 for yield and disease reaction, respectively. In baby trials, farmers provided qualitative rankings of cultivars for 16 characteristics, including vigor, yield, harvest period, diseases, insect damage, fruit quality, and salability. Results from baby trials indicated that introduced cultivars were locally acceptable to farmers, except for traits related to marketability. Outcome Mapping was used to evaluate progress in each of the three villages and results suggested that high stakeholder participation levels could predict future adoption of introduced cultivars. Our findings provide a framework for evaluating, selecting, and breeding tomato and other horticultural crops in developing countries using the MBT design for PCI. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV) and Phytophthora itafestans (late blight) in tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) have a worldwide distribution and are known to cause substantial disease damage. Sw-5 (derived from S. peruvianum) and Ph-3 (derived from S. pimpinellifolium) are, respectively, TSWV and late blight resistance genes. These two genes are linked (within 5 cM on several maps) in repulsion phase near the telomere of the long arm on chromosome 9. The tomato lines NC592 (Ph-3) and NC946 (Sw-5) were crossed to develop an F2 population and subsequent inbred generations. Marker-assisted selection (MAS) using three polymerase chain reaction-based codominant markers (TG328, TG591, and SCAR421) was used in F2 progeny with the goal of selecting for homozygous coupling-phase recombinant lines. From 1152 F2 plants, 11 were identified with potential recombination events between Ph-3 and Sw-5; of those, three were male sterile (ms-10). F3 progeny were generated from the remaining eight F2 recombinants, and resistance to both pathogens, or Ph-3 and Sw-5 in coupling phase, was confirmed in three of those. Recombination was suppressed fivefold in our F2 population to 1.11 cM between genes when compared with published maps of the same region. However, MAS was an efficient tool for selecting the desirable recombination events for these two pathogen resistance genes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]