Development of PCR Based Molecular Markers for Oat Crown Rust Resistance Genes and Comparison of Assay Techniques

Oat crown rust caused by the fungus Puccinia coronata avenae (Pca) is a major production constraint of oat in North America. There are over 100 genes effective against one or more Pca race, most of which are not yet mapped, making it difficult to pursue marker assisted breeding in oats for crown rust resistance. Marker-assisted selection in plant breeding requires that the markers be linked to genes of interest, and be cost-effective. A number of assay techniques are available to develop markers using the sequence information of SNPs linked to target genes/QTLs. Here we report a comparison of molecular markers developed for oat crown rust resistance genes/QTLs mapped on chromosomes 9D, 13A, 14D and 15A of oat using multiple assay techniques.