Quantitative Trait Analysis Shows the Potential for Alleles from the Wild Species Arachis batizocoi and A. duranensis to Improve Groundnut Disease Resistance and Yield in East Africa

Diseases are the most important factors reducing groundnut yields worldwide. In East Africa, late leaf spot (LLS) and groundnut rosette disease (GRD) are the most destructive diseases of groundnut. Limited resistance is available in pure pedigree cultivated groundnut lines and novel sources of resistance are required to produce resistant new varieties. In this work, 376 interspecific lines from 3 different populations derived from crosses with the wild species A. duranensis, A. ipaënsis, A. batizocoi and A. valida were phenotyped for 2 seasons and across 2 locations, Serere and Nakabango, in Uganda. Several genotypes showed a higher yield, a larger seed, an earlier flowering, and similar resistance to the local cultivar checks. Genotypic data was used to construct a linkage map for the AB-QTL population involving the cross between Fleur11 and [A. batizocoi x A. duranensis]4x. This linkage map, together with the phenotypic data was used to identify quantitative trait loci controlling disease resistance. These lines will be useful in combining good agronomic traits and stacking disease resistance to improve the groundnut crop in sub-Saharan Africa.