Inheritance of resistance toFusarium spp. and toPhytophthora infestans in crosses between Neotuberosum and Tuberosum potatoes estimated by seedling tests

Summary Neotuberosum clones with differing levels of resistance toFusarium coeruleum andFurarium sulphureum, and putative resistance toPhytophthora infestans, were selected and used in crosses with Tuberosum clones. The resulting progenies were assessed for their resistance to each of these pathogens and for breeders' preference. There was little correlation between disease scores for the twoFusarium species (r=0.21 and 0.34 for the Neotuberosum and hybrid clones respectively), indicating that resistance to each species is distinct. Statistical analyses revealed differences between the Neotuberosum parents and between the Tuberosum parents for all traits, but the Neotuberosum differences for late blight were not significant (P=0.10–0.05) when tested against the interaction between the two sets of parents. The interaction was significant forF. coeruleum and breeders' preference, but notF. sulphureum. No reciprocal differences were found. The only statistically significant correlation between traits for the 72 progenies was a small one (r=0.33; P=0.01–0.001) between the twoFusarium species; for all other pairs of traits r was less than 0.10. It is concluded that there are good prospects for combinding resistances to the twoFusarium species from different sources and also for achieving high levels of other desirable characteristics.     

Foliar and tuber assessment of late blight (Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary) reaction in cultivated potato (Solanum tuberosum L.)

Summary Host plant resistance is an important component to the management of potato late blight,Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary. Assessment of potato lines (Solanum tuberosum L.) with various levels of resistance toP. infestans (US8, A2 genotype) were evaluated in field trials, greenhouse controlled environment chambers and inoculated tuber reactions. Five lines (AWN86514-2, B0692-4, B0718-3, Jacqueline Lee, and B0288-17) with strong foliar resistance to late blight were identified in these inoculated field trials. Greenhouse controlled environment chamber studies allowed resistant and susceptible lines to be distinguished, but the 1998 greenhouse results did not correlate well with field data. Four lines (A084275-3, Bzura, MSG007-1, and MSG297-4RD) evaluated by a digital image analysis technique demonstrated tuber resistance based upon average reflective index values in the inoculated tuber studies. Tuber resistance did not correlate with field foliar resistance. Based upon these results, field assessment of foliar reaction toP. infestans provides the best measure for assessing late blight resistance in potato. Tuber resistance to late blight can be identified among lines with varying levels of foliar resistance.     

Inheritance of resistance to late blight in foliage and tubers of progenies from parents differing in resistance

Summary TenSolanum tuberosum genotypes differing in resistance to late blight (Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary) in foliage and tubers were intercrossed to determine the inheritance of disease resistance in their progenies. Plots of 10–15 clones per progeny were established in each of 2 years and resistance assessed by field or laboratory tests. The parental genotypes were similarly tested each year. The parents differed in general combining ability (GCA) for both foliage blight (FB) and tuber blight (TB). The parental and GCA scores were significantly correlated for both aspects of the disease, but the correlations between foliage and tuber scores for parents and for GCAs were not significant. Three parental genotypes were highly resistant in both foliage and tubers, and the genotype with the highest GCA for resistance to both FB and TB (cv. stirling) is recommended as the best parent. There was no evidence of strong genetic correlation between both aspects of resistance, and it is suggested that both be selected for in a breeding programme.     

Diploid Potato Hybrids as Sources of Resistance to Blackspot Bruising

Resistance to bruising is an important quality trait of potato depending on multiple genetic and environmental factors. Thirty one interspecific diploid hybrids and two tetraploid standards were evaluated for resistance to bruising in 2 years. Diploids originated from crosses between wild and primitive Solanum species and dihaploids of S. tuberosum. Two-year mean values of bruising resistance of tested genotypes indicated significant variability of the trait. Analysis of variance showed significant effects of genotype, year and interaction between them on the trait. Broad-sense heritability of bruising resistance was estimated as moderately high, Hb?=?0.73. Content of L-tyrosine, the main substrate of discoloration reaction, was not significantly correlated with brusing in tested diploid hybrids. The clones, that were resistant to blackspot bruise, also combined quality traits and resistances to many pathogens. All these traits could be transferred together into tetraploid level in 4x?×?2x crosses via male 2n gametes produced by diploid hybrids.     

分子标记结合表型鉴定选育兼抗赤霉病、白粉病和条锈病弱筋小麦新品种扬麦38

长江中下游麦区是中国弱筋小麦优势产业带,小麦赤霉病、白粉病和条锈病是该麦区主要病害,当前弱筋小麦主导品种综合抗性较弱,影响其生产安全。为培育多抗优质弱筋小麦品种,以高产中筋小麦品种扬麦16为轮回亲本,以兼抗白粉病、条锈病的软质小麦92R137为供体亲本,构建了BC₁群体,利用分子标记在BC₁F₂代基础农艺性状较优良的株行中筛选抗白粉病基因 Pm21、抗条锈病基因 Yr26和软质麦相关基因 Pinb-D1a均纯合的单株,并鉴定BC₁F₆代对赤霉病、白粉病和条锈病的抗性,同时检测籽粒硬度、湿面筋含量、面团形成时间、稳定时间等重要品质指标以及小区产量,最终育成高抗赤霉病、免疫白粉病和高抗条锈病的弱筋小麦新品种扬麦38,于2022年通过国家农作物品种审定委员会审定。     

Hydraulic Resistance of Sorghum (C4) and Sunflower (C3)

Summary

It is well known that C4 crops have a lower water requirement than C3 crops. Reasons for the difference are not well understood. Therefore, hydraulic resistance of sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench] (C4) and sunflower (Helianthus annuus L.) (C3) was determined to see if it might be one explanation for the lower water use of crops with the C4 photosynthetic pathway. Plants were grown under greenhouse conditions in pots with soil, which was well watered (soil matric potential of ～0 MPa) or allowed to dry (soil matric potential of ?0.038 MPa and ?0.065 MPa for sorghum and sunflower, respectively). Hydraulic resistance was calculated in two ways: (1) using the classic Ohm's law analogue, which assumes that the relation between flux (transpiration) and difference in water potentials of the soil and plant is linear and (2) using an equation that considers diurnal changes in leaf water content along with transpiration and difference in water potentials. Because change in leaf-water content during a day was small, hydraulic resistances calculated by the two methods resulted in similar values. Sorghum had a linear relationship between flux and difference in potentials (constant hydraulic resistance), but sunflower had a nonlinear one (variable hydraulic resistance). The hydraulic resistance of watered sunflower increased only slightly during a day and averaged about 40 MPa m² s mol^?1, which was 3.5 times less than that of watered or water-stressed sorghum (-140 MPa m² s mol^?1). The hydraulic resistance of water-stressed sunflower increased steeply during a day and by the end of the day it had a hydraulic resistance that approached that of sorghum.     

Screening for resistance to early blight (Alternaria solani) in potato (Solanum tuberosum L.) using toxic metabolites produced by the fungus

Summary The phytotoxic components of the culture filtrate of the fungusAlternaria solani Sor, which causes early blight in potato, were used in this study to differentiate between resistant and susceptible genotypes selected to represent a range of reactions when screened in the field. Detached leaflet assays, using spores and toxic metabolites from the culture filtrate, were compared with field ratings and a whole-plant glasshouse test. Rank correlations between several detached leaflet tests were highly significant (P<0.01) but the correlations between these tests and the glasshouse and field tests were poor. The disease ratings obtained in the various tests were clustered into four groups and assigned to resistance classes. For many of the genotypes there was a good correspondence between resistance classes for all test methods. Divergent results between tests were associated with foliage maturity characteristics of the genotypes. Contribution no. 3879050 of the Lethbridge Research Station.     

Evaluation of dihaploid populations from potato varieties and breeding lines

Summary Dihaploid populations from 20 varieties and 11 breeding lines ofSolanum tuberosum differed greatly in the occurrence and frequency of mutant phenotypes, in tuberization, flowering, pollen stainability, 2n-pollen production and resistance toGlobodera rostochiensis pathotype Ro-1. One population contained up to 61.7% lethal mutants: 39.1% of the total of 5377 dihaploids obtained did not tuberize, and 32.4% of 825 vigorous dihaploids did not flower. Of 825 vigorous dihaploids, 26.9 and 3.9% respectively had a pollen stainability higher than 20 and 60%. Among 222 dihaploids with a pollen stainability higher than 20%. 23.0% produced some 2n-pollen and none of these had a stainability higher than 60%. Among the dihaploid populations investigated the proportion of resistant to susceptible dihaploids ranged from 8:26 to 62:8.     

小麦“N553×扬麦13”RIL群体小穗密度、株高及赤霉病抗性QTL分析

为了发掘新的抗赤霉病基因,以抗赤霉病新种质N553与扬麦13构建的包含184个家系的重组自交系(RILs)为材料,利用217对在双亲间具有多态性的分子标记构建遗传连锁图谱,利用该图谱对小穗密度、株高及赤霉病抗性进行QTL检测,并分析了小穗密度及株高与赤霉病抗性的相关性。结果表明,本研究共检测到5个赤霉病抗性相关QTL,其中1个效应较大的QTL位于2D染色体上,位于标记wmc18-cfd233之间,可解释8.17%~11.42%的表型变异;在3B染色体短臂上检测到1个QTL,位于标记barc102-gwm533之间,可解释5.33%~42.96%的表型变异。QFhb.jaas-2DS与QFhb.jaas-3BS聚合可显著增强小麦赤霉病抗性。另外3个QTL贡献率小于10%,分别位于染色体2B、3B、4A上。检测到与小穗密度相关的QTL有1个,位于3B染色体上,可解释5.36%~6.08%的表型变异。检测到与株高相关的QTL有5个,分别位于染色体4A、7A、5B、6B上,可解释5.2%~8.93%的表型变异。小穗密度与赤霉病抗性呈正相关,株高与抗扩展抗性无相关性,与抗侵染抗性呈负相关。结合以上QTL检测及相关性分析结果可知,QFhb.jaas-3BL可能不是赤霉病抗性位点。因此,包括QFhb.jaas-3BL在内的贡献率小于10%且仅在单一环境下检测到的3个赤霉病抗性相关QTL需进一步进行多年多点试验。     

Can Physiology Help Us to Combat Late Blight in Potato?

Late blight is a devastating disease in potato production world-wide. Breeding for resistance is complex because of the versatile and aggressive population of Phytophthora infestans, which overcomes any new genetic source of resistance very rapidly. There are reliable fungicides available to control the disease, but chemical control is costly and harmful to the environment. There are no cultural practices reducing the infestation, which are reliable enough to cope with the disease in a non-chemical way. Given the close link between the physiological condition of the crop and its resistance to late blight, this paper addresses the question whether crop physiology can help to combat the disease. Although there are possibilities to (partly) escape to the late blight by advancing the crop cycle or the tuber bulking, it is concluded that crop physiology can do little to reliably reduce the susceptibility to late blight. Breeding for resistance remains the best option.     

Exploiting Knowledge of Pathogen Effectors to Enhance Late Blight Resistance in Potato

Late blight disease of potato, caused by Phytophthora infestans, is the most serious disease of this crop on a global scale and is thus a threat to food security. Use of resistant potato cultivars to prevent late blight does not have a very successful history, as P. infestans genotypes have overcome the deployed resistances. Thus, there is a need to identify more durable resistances, or identify and develop novel forms of resistance that exploit vulnerabilities in the biology of P. infestans. Application of molecular biology tools in P. infestans research has recently culminated in the identification of several avirulence effectors matching specific resistances in potato, the sequencing of the P. infestans genome and identification of hundreds of candidate translocated pathogen ‘RXLR’ effector proteins that may promote disease progression. Strategies for prioritising these effectors for further research are revealing those that are highly expressed during infection, difficult for the pathogen to alter rapidly, essential for P. infestans pathogenesis and recognized by resistant accessions of Solanum spp. These effector characteristics are being used to identify and characterise resistances from Solanum germplasm that may prove more durable. In addition to RXLR effectors, P. infestans also produces a broad spectrum of additional secreted proteins. These are exposed to plant cells and may potentially act to trigger resistance, either as broad spectrum pathogen-associated molecular patterns or as specific effectors of resistance. Alternatively, conserved secreted proteins may be attractive targets for novel agrichemical development. We have silenced a diverse selection of these candidate secreted proteins in P. infestans and demonstrated their effects on late blight disease development. Results from these studies are aiding a deeper understanding of P. infestans disease development and identifying potential pathogen weaknesses for exploitation in future control measures.     

Effect of Cultivar Resistance and Haulm Killing Method on Tuber Infection by <Emphasis Type="Italic">Phytophthora infestans</Emphasis>

A series of field trials combining cultivars with different levels of resistance to Phythophtora infestans and different haulm killing methods was conducted in 1997, 1998 and 1999 to assess the contamination potential of the haulm. In addition, the frequency of tubers with late blight was assessed after harvest and storage, combining effects of pretreatment infection, infection by the haulm at harvest and the development of the disease during storage. Haulm killing was performed by diquat (200, 400, 600 g a.i. ha^-1), half cutting of the haulm in combination with diquat (100, 200, 300 g a.i. ha^-1) or full cutting of the haulm. In those treatments where haulm killing was performed purely chemically the haulm remnants’ contamination potential tended to increase at reduced doses. Full mechanical destruction gave as low a contamination potential as application of the full dose of chemical haulm killer. However, there were no consistent differences between the haulm killing treatments in the frequency of blighted tubers after harvest and storage. This indicates that the input of chemical haulm killers may be reduced. There was a large difference between years in tuber blight after harvest and storage, which confirms that climatic factors are of major importance for tuber infection. The large difference found between the cultivars in the frequency of tuber blight indicates that tuber resistance should be an important part of integrated late blight disease management.     

Inheritance of early blight resistance from open-pollinated 4×-2× potato hybrids

Early blight, caused byAlternaria solani Sorauer, is a serious disease of potatoes that occurs in most potatogrowing regions in the world. There is little resistance to early blight among commercial potato cultivars. However, resistance to early blight in diploid (Solanum phureja-S. stenotomum) potatoes has been identified, and was found to be highly heritable and readily transferred to the tetraploid level via4×-2× crosses. The purposes of this study were to identify good levels of early blight resistance in open-pollinated4×-2× (Solanum tuberosum×S. phureja-S. stenotomum) hybrids selected for horticultural characteristics, to estimate broad-sense heritability for early blight resistance in these hybrids, and to investigate the general and specific combining ability for resistance to early blight from some of these early blight resistant tetraploid selections. Four early blight resistant clones were crossed as female parents with four different male parents in a design II mating scheme to generate 16 families. Approximately 20 randomly chosen offspring per family were visually evaluated for early blight resistance in 1995 and 1996 in a randomized complete block design in Pennsylvania. Broad-sense heritability for early blight resistance among the open-pollinated4×-2× hybrids which were originally selected for horticultural characteristics was 0.91 with a 95% confidence interval of 0.80, 0.94. There were significant differences among female and male parents for area under the disease progress curve, indicating the importance of general combining ability for early blight resistance in this germplasm. The female x male source of variation was not significant, indicating that specific combining ability was not important. The greatest number of resistant progeny were observed in families where both parents were derived from the early blight resistant population; however, at least one highly resistant progeny was produced in all families. These results suggest that the early blight resistance in these clones can be readily incorporated into the commercial tetraploid breeding population.     

Light use efficiencies of potato cultivars with late blight (Phytophthora infestans)

Summary Potato cultivars of different maturity classes and levels of resistance toPhytophthora infestans were grown under several disease intensities in three field trials. Seasonal courses of ground cover by green foliage and final tuber yields were determined. Light use efficiencies (LUE) were calculated from regression analyses of yield on cumulative light interception. Late blight reduced tuber yields by decreasing cumulative light interception without affecting LUE. No differences in LUE between cultivars or cultivar classes were detected. Therefore, the maintenance of green leaf area is important when breeding potatoes for optimal performance in the presence of late blight. The results support the hypothesis that the correlation between lateness and reported resistance of potato cultivars is due to the vigorous foliage growth of late cultivars.     

WildSolanum species as resistance sources against different pathogens of potato

Summary Resistance screenings againstPhytophthora infestans, Globodera pallida Pa2/3 and the viruses PVY^N, PLRV, PVM and PVS were performed in 98 accessions belonging to 90Solanum wild species. Seventy accessions showed resistance or partial resistance to one or several of these pathogens. Among themS. brachistotrichum exhibited combined resistance to nematodes, late blight and some of the viruses evaluated. Only part of the resistances previously found in different wild species could be confirmed, which might be due to the existing variability within species, the use of different pathogen strains or isolates, or to different methodologies for resistance screening. Several new resistance sources, such asS. andreanum, S. maglia. S. doddsii andS. boliviense, are provided for the different pathogens analyzed. These findings demonstrate that within the gene pool ofSolanum species, still numerous but in part unexploited resistances are available which could be favourably used in potato breeding.     

Combining Ability for Foliar Resistance to Late Blight [<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phytophthora infestans</Emphasis> (Mont.) de Bary] of Potato Cultivars with Different Levels of Resistance

Combining ability for resistance of potato to late blight (LB) was analyzed by testing segregating seedling progenies obtained from a full diallel crossing design between 3 potato parent cultivars with different levels of LB resistance and a North Carolina Mating Design II with the same resistant parents as females crossed to 2 LB susceptible male parents, against a complex race of P. infestans. Artificial inoculation was conducted under greenhouse conditions in Dalat, Vietnam at 1500 m above sea level. Percentage of foliage infection was recorded visually at 5 days intervals until 25th day after inoculation when the susceptible check was totally destroyed. General combining ability effect was significant and predominant, indicating that in the inheritance of resistance to LB, additive gene actions are more important. Specific combining ability was significant only for crosses between resistant parents, but insignificant for those between resistant and susceptible parents. In almost all cases, no significant reciprocal effect was found. Cultivar C88 was the best general combiner for resistance to LB. There were evidences that 1) the major genes R1, R3a and Rpi-blb1 alone are not enough to condition a good level of resistance to the isolate used; 2) the resistance of C88 was plausibly mostly due to presence of the gene R2, which is probably the main genetic factor of the durable resistance of this cultivar and, 3) the resistance to LB in potato seems background dependent, the background being the set of nuclear factors (major or minor genes) whose expression collectively affects the resistance level.     

Resistance to late blight (Phytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary) of potato plants regenerated fromin vitro selected calli

Summary Cells of seven potato cultivars were selectedin vitro with culture filtrate (CF) ofPhytophthora infestans (Mont.) de Bary. Regenerated plants were tested for late blight resistance. The aim of the study was to check the efficacy of CF in the selection of potatoes for resistance to late blight and to evaluate the effects of additive factors on general resistance. One selection cycle, applied to a cell culture system, selected cells resistant to toxic metabolites of CF.In vivo screening of clones regenerated from selected cells was done in two steps: on whole plants, assessing foliage late blight, and on detached leaves, assessing single factors of horizontal resistance. In general, the frequency of resistant variants selected with CF did not differ from that of resistant somaclonal variants. Nevertheless, high concentrations of CF in the growth medium seemed to induce an improvement of some partial resistance factors as compared with the source plants.     

Resistance to <Emphasis Type="Italic">Potato virus Y</Emphasis> in a Multitrait Potato Breeding Scheme without Direct Selection in Each Generation

In an experimental breeding scheme to improve late blight (Phytophthora infestans) and white potato cyst nematode (Globodera pallida) resistance of tetraploid potato over three generations of crossing and selection, 15 clones survived the final selection, and these were derived from 15 great-grandparents. There was no direct selection for resistance to Potato virus Y (PVY), but 14 out of the 15 great-grandparents were resistant to PVY and three had extreme resistance. Thirteen of the 15 descendants had PVY resistance and one extreme resistance. This was within the range expected for a random (unselected) sample from the genotypes of the great-grandparents. Hence, we found no evidence for any positive or negative association between PVY resistance and the attributes selected. The conclusion is that laborious selection is not required in every generation when many parents have PVY resistance, including some with more than one copy of a PVY resistance gene or resistance at more than one locus. However, in the future, determining the major virus resistance genes present in potential parents in each generation using diagnostic molecular markers would prevent susceptible × susceptible crosses being made and maximise the number of resistant × resistant ones.     

Monitoring of insecticide resistance in Spodoptera litura (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) from four districts of Punjab,Pakistan to conventional and new chemistry insecticides

Studies were carried out to evaluate the resistance of Pakistani populations of the beet armyworm, Spodoptera litura (F) to several commonly used insecticides. Different field populations of S. litura from four districts of the Punjab were monitored from 2009 to 2011 for resistance to insecticides using a standard leaf dip bioassay method. For organophosphates and pyrethroids, resistance ratios compared with a susceptible Lab-Pk population were in the range of 8–109 fold for deltamethrin, 11–139 fold for cypermethrin, 19–143 fold for chlorpyrifos and 39–162 fold for profenofos. For new chemistry insecticides, resistance levels were 2–74 fold for spinosad, 4–216 fold for abamectin, 7–87 fold for indoxacarb, 2–77 fold for emamectin benzoate, 1.9–58 fold for lufenuron and 4–43 fold for methoxyfenozide. Pairwise correlation coefficients of LC₅₀ values showed a positive correlation with cross-resistance among deltamethrin, cypermethrin and chlorpyrifos, while resistance to profenofos showed correlations with resistances to other insecticides except chlorpyrifos. New chemistry insecticides showed no correlations between any of the tested insecticides. There were high to very high levels of resistance to organophosphates in most of the population, which suggested that the use of these should be avoided against this pest. Selective use of pyrethroids in several areas, including Bahawalpur and Lodhran, where the pest showed a low level of resistance, would appear to be acceptable, the new chemistry insecticides, lufenuron, methoxyfenozide, emamectin and indoxacarb had no, very low, low and moderate resistance levels against populations, respectively. These are considered to be safe to the environment and safer to natural enemies.     

Effects of Mulch and Potato Hilling on Development of Foliar Blight (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Phytophthora infestans</Emphasis>) and the Control of Tuber Blight Infection

Foliar and tuber blight caused by Phytophthora infestans accounts for significant losses in potatoes in field and storage. Nevertheless, limited research has been published on the effects of cultural practices on late blight control. Field experiments were conducted in two years on Howard gravely loam soil in New York State to evaluate the effectiveness of mulching using oat straw and hilling in preventing tuber blight infection for cvs Allegany and Katahdin. Potato hilling and mulching had little effect on foliar blight development. The cultivar affected the disease development in the foliage, with cv. Allegany showing lower foliar late blight than cv. Katahdin. Tuber blight incidence averaged 25% for cv. Allegany and 3% for cv. Katahdin in hilled plots, while in the mulched plots the incidence of tuber blight averaged 33% for cv. Allegany and 10% for cv. Katahdin. The straw hay mulch was ineffective in tuber blight control. Tubers set at a soil depth of more than 7 cm had lower tuber blight incidence than shallow tubers set at a depth of less than 7 cm. In both years, hilling provided partial protection of tubers but its effectiveness was limited in the presence of favourable conditions for late blight development. Even though large hills had proportionally a lower tuber blight incidence than medium-sized hills, the difference between the different hill sizes was not significant. These studies suggest that the use of cultivars with foliage resistance to late blight in combination with cultural practices may partially reduce the incidence of tuber blight. Mention of trade names or commercial products in this publication is solely for the purpose of providing specific information and does not imply recommendation for endorsement by Cornell University or the US Department of Agriculture.