Disease resistant pepper plants

1. A pepper plant comprising within its genome at least one potyvirus resistance allele and at least one powdery mildew (PM) resistance allele, wherein said resistance alleles are present in cis configuration on chromosome 4, such that said two resistance alleles are in coupling phase, and wherein the potyvirus resistance allele is the pvr1 gene resistance allele, and the PM resistance allele is linked with a molecular marker lacking a BseNI restriction site when amplified by SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:3.

2. The pepper plant of claim 1 , wherein the plant is selected from the group consisting of an inbred line and a hybrid.

3. The pepper plant of claim 1 , wherein said pepper plant is substantially resistant to PM disease caused by the fungus L. taurica or infection by at least one potyvirus, said potyvirus selected from the group consisting of potato virus Y (PVY), potato virus A (PVA), tobacco etch virus (TEV) and pepper mottle virus (PepMoV) or both said PM disease and said at least one potyvirus.

4. The pepper plant of claim 3 , wherein inoculation with L. taurica results in minor appearance or no appearance of powdery mildew disease symptoms on the leaves of said plant, said symptoms include chlorotic spots on the upper leaf surface and white powder-like sporulation on the corresponding area of the lower leaf surface, further wherein inoculation with PVY results in minor or no appearance of mosaic like green spots on the leaves of said plant.

5. The pepper plant of claim 1 , comprising within its genome a DNA sequence which couples with resistance to a potyvirus, and a DNA sequence which couples with susceptibility to potyvirus, wherein said pepper plant is resistant to powdery mildew.

6. The pepper plant of claim 5 , wherein said DNA sequence coupling with potyvirus resistance is a template for amplification of a DNA fragment using a first primer having a polynucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 and a second primer having a polynucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:3, said DNA fragment lacking a restriction site for the restriction enzyme BseNI, further wherein the DNA sequence coupling with potyvirus susceptibility is a template for amplification of a DNA fragment using a first primer having a polynucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 and a second primer having a polynucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:3, said DNA fragment containing a restriction site for the restriction enzyme BseNI.

7. A pollen, ovule or fruit of the pepper plant of claim 1 , wherein the pollen, ovule or fruit comprises within its genome at least one potyvirus resistance allele and at least one powdery mildew (PM) resistance allele, wherein said resistance alleles are present in cis configuration on chromosome 4, such that said two resistance alleles are in coupling phase, and wherein the potyvirus resistance allele is the pvr1 gene resistance allele, and the PM resistance allele is linked with a molecular marker lacking a BseNI restriction site when amplified by SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:3.

8. The plant of claim 1 , further comprising at least one additional trait selected from the group consisting of high germination rate, herbicide resistance, insect resistance, resistance to at least one disease, resistance to various types of non-biotic stress, male sterility and vigorous growth, said additional trait introduced by a method selected from the group consisting of breeding, single trait conversion and transformation.

9. A seed of a pepper plant of claim 1 , wherein a plant grown from said seed comprises within its genome at least one potyvirus resistance allele and at least one powdery mildew (PM) resistance allele, wherein said resistance alleles are present in cis configuration on chromosome 4, such that said two resistance alleles are in coupling phase, and wherein the potyvirus resistance allele is the pvr1 gene resistance allele, and the PM resistance allele is linked with a molecular marker lacking a BseNI restriction site when amplified by SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:3.

10. The seed of claim 9 , wherein the plant grown from said seed is substantially resistant to PM disease caused by the fungus L. taurica , or infection by at least one potyvirus, said potyvirus selected from the group consisting of potato virus Y (PVY), potato virus A (PVA), tobacco etch virus (TEV) and pepper mottle virus (PepMoV), or both said PM disease and said at least one potyvirus.

11. A pepper plant, or a pollen, ovule, or fruit of the pepper plant or a part thereof, produced by growing the seed of claim 9 .

12. The plant of claim 11 , further comprising at least one additional trait selected from the group consisting of high germination rate, herbicide resistance, insect resistance, resistance to at least one disease, resistance to various types of non-biotic stress, male sterility and vigorous growth, said additional trait introduced by a method selected from the group consisting of breeding, single trait conversion and transformation.

13. A tissue culture of regenerable cells or protoplasts obtained from the pepper plant of claim 1 or a part thereof, wherein the regenerable cells or protoplast of said tissue culture are obtained from a plant part selected from the group consisting of leaves, pollen, embryos, roots, root tips, anthers, flowers, fruit and seeds, and wherein the regenerable cell comprises within its genome at least one potyvirus resistance allele and at least one powdery mildew (PM) resistance allele, present in cis configuration on chromosome 4 such that the two resistance alleles are in coupling phase, and wherein the potyvirus resistance allele is the pvr1 gene resistance allele, and the PM resistance allele is linked with a molecular marker lacking a BseNI restriction site when amplified by SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:3.

14. The tissue culture of claim 13 , wherein said tissue culture regenerates a plant comprising within its genome at least one potyvirus resistance allele and at least one powdery mildew (PM) resistance allele, present in cis configuration on chromosome 4 such that the two resistance alleles are in coupling phase, and wherein the potyvirus resistance allele is the pvr1 gene resistance allele, and the PM resistance allele is linked with a molecular marker lacking a BseNI restriction site when amplified by SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:3.

15. A method of producing a pepper plant comprising within its genome at least one potyvirus resistance allele and at least one powdery mildew (PM) resistance allele wherein the alleles are present in cis configuration on chromosome 4, and wherein the potyvirus resistance allele is the pvr1 gene resistance allele, and the PM resistance allele is linked with a molecular marker lacking a BseNI restriction site when amplified by SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:3, comprising the steps of:

a. providing a first pepper plant resistant to infection by L. taurica and susceptible to potato virus Y (PVY) and a second pepper plant susceptible to infection by L. taurica and resistant to PVY; b. crossing said first and the second pepper plants of step (a) to produce an F 1 pepper plant progeny;

c. selfing the F 1 pepper plant of step (b) to produce an F 2 pepper plant progeny;

d. analyzing the progeny of step (c) for plants resistant to infection with L. taurica said plants comprising within their genome a PVY resistant allele and a PVY susceptibility allele on chromosome 4; and

e. selecting at least one plant having the characteristics of step (d), comprising within it genome at least one potyvirus resistance allele and at least one powdery mildew (PM) resistance allele wherein the alleles are present in cis configuration on chromosome 4, and wherein the potyvirus resistance allele is the pvr1 gene resistance allele, and the PM resistance allele is linked with a molecular marker lacking a BseNI restriction site when amplified by SEQ ID NO:2 and SEQ ID NO:3.

16. The method of claim 15 , further comprising selfing the plant of step (e) to obtain a progeny homozygous for the potyvirus resistance allele and the PM resistance allele.

17. The method of claim 15 , further comprising the steps of:

a. isolating a genomic DNA sample from said F 2 pepper plant;

b. amplifying a DNA segment using a first primer having a polynucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 and a second primer having a polynucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:3; and

c. subjecting the amplified DNA segment to restriction with the restriction enzyme BseNI,

wherein the absence of a BseNI restriction site within said amplified DNA segment characterizes said plant as resistant to infection by potyvirus and the presence of the BseNI site characterizes said plant as susceptible to infection by potyvirus.

18. A method for characterizing a pepper plant as resistant or susceptible to infection by L. taurica , comprising the steps of:

a. isolating a genomic DNA sample from the plant;

b. amplifying a DNA segment using a first primer having a polynucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:2 and a second primer having a polynucleotide sequence as set forth in SEQ ID NO:3; and

c. subjecting the amplified DNA segment to restriction with the restriction enzyme BseNI,

wherein the presence of BseNI restriction site within said amplified DNA segment characterizes said plant as resistant to infection by L. taurica and the absence of the BseNI site characterizes said plant as susceptible to infection by L. taurica.