Peppers are often subject to different diseases that reduce yield and fruit quality each year and some of the diseases also seem to impact sweet pepper production in the Georgia and southeast USA. Among commonly occurring diseases given below are a major threat to pepper production in Georgia
- Crown and Fruit rot (Phytopthora capsici): Serious issue for GA growers
- Southern Blight or Stem Rot (Sclerotium rolfsii)
- Anthracnose (Colletotrichum acutatum)
- Bacterial Leaf Spot (Xanthomonas campestris pv. vesicatoria): Partial resistance available in commercial cultivars for five races out of seven
- Viral Diseases: Tomato Spotted Wilt Virus (TSWV), Pepper Mild Mottle Virus (PMMoV), and Cucumber Mosaic Virus (CMV)
- Root Knot Nematode (Meloidogyne spp.): Major threat for light and sandy-textured soils.
Considering diseases being a major challenge, breeding for disease resistance is a major priority of our program. We are envisioning to utilize publicly available molecular markers to screen the breeding populations and find the resistance sources to be included in pre-breeding and breeding efforts. Beside using molecular markers, we are also undertaking efforts to utilize integrated omics including genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics to find potential resistant genes and utilize them to introgress in the desired germplasm.
