Resumen
- Physalis peruviana, commonly known as capegooseberry, is an Andean fruited species of the solanaceae family important for local and export markets due to nutritional and medicinal values. Capegooseberry is considered an orphan species with little genetic and genomic information in agreement with the lack of genetic improved materials. The main traits of interest for selection are fruit quality (non cracking, high brix content, high nutritional and nutraceutical properties) as well resistance against main phytosanitary constraints such as the vascular wilt caused by Fusarium oxysporum. The Plant Molecular Genetics and Molecular Microbiology Laboratories at the Biotechnology and Bioindustry Center of CORPOICA are generating different approaches for development of the species. These have involved: i) the phenotypic evaluation of a germplasm collection of Physalis accessions for resistance against F. oxysporum as well as fruit quality traits; ii) The sequencing and annotation of a normalized leaf transcriptome from a commercial ecotype as well as RNA seq of four leaf and root non normalized transcriptomes of the P. peruviana / F. oxysporum pathosystem; ii) the generation of more than 10,000 molecular markers (SSRs and SNPs) obtained from assembled ESTs of the transcriptome, putative ortholog gene sets as well as Genotyping by Sequencing (GBS) from a panel of more than 150 Physalis accessions; iv) the development of protocols for generation of haploid and double haploid lines with potential to facilitate genomic studies, to reduce breeding time and to obtain novel fruit qualities. Future association studies are envisioned to support breeding and phytosanitary programs.