Bacterial wilt in brinjal: Source of resistance, inheritance of resistance and molecular markers linked to resistance loci

Brinjal, eggplant or aubergine (Solanum melongena L.) belongs to the Solanaceae family and is a widely cultivated warm-season vegetable in India and around the world. Brinjal production and productivity are strongly affected by many biotic stresses, viz., fusarium wilt, verticillium wilt and small leaves of brinjal. Among all the diseases, bacterial wilt (BW) is the most destructive disease in tropical, subtropical, temperate, and humid regions worldwide due to the broad host range and prolonged duration of spore survival. BW disease in brinjal is caused by Ralstonia solanacearum, which belongs to the β-proteobacteria family and is a gram-negative, nonspore-forming, rod-shaped, and soilborne bacterium. BW disease management strategies, such as culture, mechanical, biological, and chemical methods, are ineffective due to the prolonged survival period of the bacterium in the soil and its wide host range. The use of resistant varieties and hybrids against BW disease is the safest method for controlling this disease. Information on the genetics of resistance to BW disease in brinjal is vital for the development of an effective breeding method and for identifying bacterial wilt resistance in preferable brinjal cultivars. The use of molecular markers associated with BW disease resistance gene loci helps to characterize traits of interest and develop resistant varieties and hybrids. This review described recent advances in different control measures. We focused on the importance of marker-assisted selection for identifying bacterial wilt diseases.