2006 Annual Report 4d.Progress report. This report serves to document research conducted under a specific cooperative agreement between ARS and Michigan State University. This project was initiated in June 2005 and activities are ongoing. The overall objective is to identify resistance genes important in plant defense responses of dry beans to Sclerotinia. Please refer to the report for project 5442-21220-010-00D, Sclerotinia Diseases, for additional information. Two inbred backcross populations with a common recurrent parent serve as the basis for the quantitative trait loci (QTL) study that is part of the funded work. During the past year, a third season of field data was collected on a subset of the lines from each population for reaction to white mold at the Montcalm Research Farm in Entrican, Michigan. Both populations were also evaluated in the greenhouse for resistance to white mold using the straw test. In the lab, genotypic data was collected on all lines from both populations for the purpose of linkage map development. Both simple sequence repeat (SSR) and target region amplified polymorphism (TRAP) markers have been used. To date, over sixty markers have been identified and genotyped on the lines from each population. A preliminary QTL analysis was conducted for one of the mapping populations which identified one QTL for the greenhouse screening and two QTL from the field based white mold nursery. Additionally, two publications have been generated as a result of this work. The results of the preliminary QTL analysis were presented at both the National Sclerotinia Initiative annual meeting and the biannual Bean Improvement Cooperative meeting. These results are published in the 2006 Bean Improvement Cooperative Annual Report (vol. 49, p. 103). Additionally, a protocol for more efficiently running TRAP markers on agarose gels was developed during the course of this project and the protocol was published in the 2006 Bean Improvement Cooperative Annual Report (vol. 49, p. 191). Publications and presentations: Terpstra, K.A., and J.D. Kelly. 2006. Preliminary QTL analysis for white mold resistance in a black bean x wild Mexican bean inbred backcross mapping population. Annu. Rept. Bean Improv. Coop. 49: 103-104. Terpstra, K.A., E.M. Wright, and J.D. Kelly. 2006. Protocol for visualizing sequence related amplified polymorphism (SRAP) and target region amplified polymorphism (TRAP) markers on agarose gels. Annu. Rept. Bean Improv. Coop. 49: 191-192.