Identification of novel Ascochyta lentis resistance in a global lentil collection using a focused identification of germplasm strategy (FIGS)

Abstract

The Australian lentil breeding program is historically genetically narrow and recent reports suggests a loss of resistance to Ascochyta lentis within resistant cultivars such as Northfield and Nipper. There is evidence that the pathogen population is becoming more virulent on other widely adopted cultivars, thus there is an urgent need to identify novel resistance sources that may be transferred into the cultigen. To reduce the substantial economic and time commitment in this search, a Focused Identification of Germplasm Strategy (FIGS) was applied. This entailed exploring potential association between collection site environment and climatic conditions favouring A. lentis development, to pr..