This project is aimed at rapidly producing superior tomato
varieties combining resistance to multiple diseases affecting Florida
tomato production. Six different disease resistance targets are being
backcrossed into 14 elite breeding lines using marker assisted selection
and/or phenotypic screens. As possible, efforts are being made to
reduce the effect of linkage drag by screening at the molecular level
to identify recombination events where the resistance traits have been
separated from linked deleterious effects. Through this project, new
molecular marker technologies have been developed for tomato to
further speed up the rate of resistance gene integration. Ultimately
the resistance genes will be deployed in elite lines that are proven to
perform well as parents of hybrid varieties.