Breeding of cabbage lines resistant to both head splitting and fusarium wilt via an isolated microspore culture system and marker-assisted selection

Developing new cabbage varieties resistant to head splitting and cabbage fusarium wilt (CFW) has become a high priority in breeding programs. To rapidly obtain resistant inbred lines, 230 doubled haploid (DH) lines were generated with an isolated microspore culture system from the crosses of two inbred lines, 23-457 (highly susceptible to both head splitting and CFW) and 88-54 (highly resistant to both head splitting and CFW). On the basis of field trials and a molecular marker assay, four elite DH lines (D-29, D-70, D-120, and D-162) were selected. These elite DH lines were crossed with elite cabbage inbred lines to generate more than 60 hybrids. An evaluation of the hybrids in the field indicated that five hybrids were highly resistant to both head splitting and CFW. These five hybrids also exhibited good agronomic traits. The resistant hybrids may be useful for controlling head splitting and CFW in the field. Our results also suggest that the application of an isolated microspore culture system and marker-assisted selection represents a rapid and efficient way of enhancing the resistance to head splitting and CFW in cabbage.