Exploiting NBS-LRR Microsatellite Variations for Basal Stem Rot Resistance Screening in Oil Palm Germplasm

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) is severely threatened by Ganoderma boninense, the primary cause of basal stem rot, which leads to significant yield losses across Southeast Asia and Australasia region.Efforts to identify resistant planting materials are hindered by the crop's long growth cycle, labour-intensive handling, and limited screening space.Moreover, conventional resistance evaluations in the greenhouse often fail to correlate reliably with field performance, delaying breeding progress.As a result, molecular marker-assisted selection has emerged as a promising strategy to accelerate resistance screening.Among resistance-related genes, nucleotide-binding site leucine-rich repeat (NLR) genes are key components of the plant immune system and valuable targets for marker development.By identifying and characterising genetic variations within these loci, the resistance screening in oil palm can be made faster, more precise, and field-relevant.This paper reported the development of NLR microsatellites for cataloguing oil palm materials prior to large-scale resistance screening at nursery and field levels.