Mapping of easy to screen SSR markers for selection of RFLP markers-bracketed downy mildew resistance QTLs in pearl millet

Pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.), the sixth most important food-grain crop, is a highly nutritious and multipurpose cereal which can grow in the poorest soil. The crop suffers from substantial annual yield losses due to devastating downy mildew (DM) disease caused by fungus Sclerospora graminicola. Using a F2 population derived from the cross of H 77/833-2 and ICMP 451, linkage groups 1 and 4 have been reported to carry QTLs for resistance to Sclerospora graminicola. These QTLs were bracketed with labour intensive restriction fragment length polymorphism markers thus hampering their use in marker assisted selection (MAS). The current study reports saturation of DM resistance QTL regions with easy to screen simple sequence repeats markers which can be efficiently utilized in MAS programmes for improving the elite cultivars of pearl millet against this disease.