Review on resistance of lentil varieties to the blight disease caused by Ascochyta lentis, with emphasis on genetic aspects.

Abstract

Lentil, Lens culinaris (syn: Lens esculenta), is one of the most important annual legumes from the Fabaceae family, which is widely cultivated throughout Asia, Europe, Northern America, Australia, and North Africa. Lentil seeds are mostly used in food industries to produce soups and its fodder is used as livestock feed. Ascochyta blight of lentil (ABL), which is caused by the pathogenic fungus Ascochyta lentis(teleomorph Didymella lentis), is one of the important diseases of this crop worldwide which causes serious damage to it. Resistance of different lentil varieties to this disease is variable. For this purpose, different studies have been performed on resistance in cultivated and wild varieties against this disease; some of them have focused on ecological aspects, others on genetics, and few on pathogen virulence. In this review, we have outlined the advantages of each background along with latest research. The present review, due to its unique characteristics which has been done to our knowledge for the first time, can be considered as valuable regarding the management of this dangerous disease in lentil.