Construction of a genetic linkage map of the fungal pathogen of banana Mycosphaerella fijiensis, causal agent of black leaf streak disease.

A genetic linkage map of the fungal plant pathogen Mycosphaerella fijiensis, causal agent of black leaf streak disease of banana was developed. A cross between the isolates CIRAD86 (from Cameroon) and CIRAD139A (from Colombia) was analyzed using molecular markers and the MAT locus. The genetic linkage map consists of 298 AFLP and 16 SSR markers with 23 linkage groups, containing five or more markers, covering 1,879 cM. Markers are separated on average by around 5.9 cM. The MAT locus was shown to segregate in a 1:1 ratio but could not be successfully mapped. An estimate of the relation between physical size and genetic distance was approximately 39.0 kb/cM. The estimated total haploid genome size was calculated using the genetic mapping data at 4,298.2 cM. This is the first genetic linkage map reported for this important foliar pathogen of banana. The great utility of the map will be for anchoring contigs in the genome sequence, evolutionary studies in comparison with other fungi, to identify quantitative trait loci (QTLs) associated with aggressiveness or oxidative stress resistance and with the recently available genome sequence, for positional cloning.