Screening of autochthonous pear cultivars for resistance to fire blight

Erwinia amylovora (Burr.) Winslow et al. is the pathogen responsible for fire blight, a disease that can attack leaves, flowers, and even the skeleton, spreading very quickly if climatic conditions are favorable, even leading to drying out of the tree.
Genetic improvement for resistance to fire blight is a crucial strategy to prevent crop loss and preserve tree health.
A pear breeding program for fire blight resistance was initiated in 2023 at the Research Institute for Fruit Growing Pitesti.
The purpose of this study is to identify the groups of alleles associated with QTLs responsible for bacterial fire resistance by correlating the amplifications obtained with the help of markers CH05a03, CH03d02, CH02c02b and TSUENH01 with phenotypic expression of the genotypes introduced in the study.
The results showed very significant values of Pearson coefficient in the case of the markers CH05a03 and TSUEN01 (major QTL located on HS2), justifying in a large proportion the resistant/tolerant response to the attack of the pathogen Erwinia amylovora for the cultivars: ‘Aniversare’, ‘Bălănşoaie’, ‘Boierești’, ‘Cristal’, ‘Daciana’, ‘Lucele’, ‘Mustoase’, ‘Para de Vin’, ‘Paramis’, ‘Pepenii’, ‘Pere de iarnă’, ‘Piperate de toamnă’, ‘Sântiliești’, ‘Tămâioasă mică’, ‘Untoasă de Feleac’ and ‘Văratice’. Less significant values of the Pearson coefficient could explain the tolerance /resistance of cultivars: ‘Aniversare’, ‘Anţig’, ‘Bălănşoaie’‚ ‘Boiereşti’, ‘Carpica’, ‘Codiţă’, ‘Decana Krier’, ‘Muntoase’, ‘Nina de Vişan’, ‘Para de vin’, ‘Paramis’, ‘Untoase de Feleac’ and ‘Văratice’ in the case of the marker CH02c02b.

EHC2024: International Symposium on Genetic Resources in Horticulture: Screening, Propagation, Use, and Conservation

E. Mareși, A. Iancu, M. Militaru

Erwinia amylovora, PCR, SSR markers, pear, resistance, fire blight

https://doi.org/10.17660/ActaHortic.2025.1439.63