Assessing general combining ability for gangrene resistance by means of a glasshouse seedling test

Summary A seedling progeny test for resistance to gangrene (Phoma foveata) was used to evaluate progenies from a 15×15 half diallel set of crosses, including 14 selfs and 25 reciprocal crosses, which was originally made to investigate the inheritance of resistance to late blight and cyst nematodes. Nine out of the 14 selfs were more susceptible than the crosses involving their parents, so that overall the selfs were slightly more susceptible than the crosses, thus providing evidence of non-additive gene action in favour of resistance. However, when the selfs were omitted from the analysis, all of the variation between progenies could be attributed to differences in the General Combining Abilities (GCAs) of their parents. The four parents with the best GCAs for gangrene resistance all had sizeable contributions fromSolanum tuberosum subsp.andigena in their pedigrees.     

Comparative susceptibility of some potato cultivars to dry rot caused byFusarium sulphureum andF. solani var.coeruleum

Summary The susceptibility of 15 potato cultivars to dry rot caused byFusarium sulphureum andf. solani var.coeruleum was examined over 8 years. Tubers were wounded, inoculated, incubated at 10°C for 7–8 weeks and the size of the rot assessed.F. sulphureum was the more aggressive species. There was little correlation between the rank order of susceptibility of the cultivars to the two pathogens, but a higly significant correlation between years. Two years' tests are deemed sufficient to assess susceptibility to both species.     

Leaching of solutes and sloughing of potato tuber tissue

Thin slices of tissue from low (1.075–1.078 and high (1.092–1.094) specific gravity tubers were soaked in distilled water (100g/250ml) for 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, and 6 hours. Following the soak periods, the soak water and remaining tissues were separated and analyzed. Analyses of the soak water included pH, electrical conductivity, total solids, K, P and citric acid. The tissue analyses included total ash, alkalinity of ash, Ca, Mg, total N and phytate P. Other tissue samples were soaked the same periods of time and used to evaluate the amount of sloughing that occurred during cooking. All constituents studied diffused into the water during the soak periods. The greatest loss from the slices occurred in the first 2 to 3 hours and were similar for both specific gravity groups. After 6 hours the average amounts of material in the soak water were: total solids — 23%, P — 68%, phytate P —55%, K — 71%, total ash — 62%, total nitrogen — 56%, Ca — 35% and Mg —50%. Citric acid diffused into the soak water during the first 3 hours and the amount in the water then decreased. This apparent change may be due to metabolism of the acid. The sloughing of tissue decreased with the length of the soak period. The decrease in sloughing was highly correlated (P<1 %) with the length of the soak period, increases in electrical conductivity of the soak water, and with the leaching of all constituents measured.     

Isolation,Characterization and Quantification of Tricin and Flavonolignans in the Medicinal Rice Njavara (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Oryza sativa</Emphasis> L.), as Compared to Staple Varieties

Njavara is an important medicinal rice variety of Kerala, India, widely used in Ayurveda as a ‘health food’ and in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, paralysis, neurodegenerative diseases and in rejuvenation therapy. Phytochemical investigations and spectroscopic studies of the diethyl ether fraction of methanolic extract of Njavara Black (NB) rice bran gave three important compounds namely, tricin and two rare flavonolignans- tricin 4′-O-(erythro-β-guaiacylglyceryl) ether and tricin 4′-O-(threo-β-guaiacylglyceryl) ether. The EC₅₀ values of these compounds in DPPH system were 90.39, 352.04 and 208.1 μg/ml, respectively. Quantification of the compounds by HPLC in NB and staple, non-medicinal rice varieties Sujatha (SJ) and Palakkadan Matta (PM) showed that tricin is present 39.64 and 16.12 fold higher in NB, compared to SJ and PM, respectively. This is the first report on the occurrence of tricin at significantly higher levels in Njavara and occurrence of the two flavonolignans in Oryza sativa species. Of the three compounds, tricin and the threo- form of flavonolignan showed anti-inflammatory effect of >65% after 5 h, at 2 mg/kg, in carrageenan-induced, paw edema experiments in rats. The results of the study corroborate with the preferential use of Njavara in indigenous medicine, over staple varieties.     

Assessing progenies of potato for resistance to skin spot (Polyscytalum pustulans) in the glasshouse

Summary Crosses were made between six parents differing in susceptibility to skin spot and glasshouse-grown tubers from true seedlings of the nine resulting progenies assessed for resistance to the disease. The assessment was evaluated by a two-year comparison with the behaviour of field-grown tubers of the progenies and their parents. The correlations between progenies in the glasshouse and field were r=0.911 and 0.753 and those between the mid-parental values and the progeny means were high (r>0.864), indicating that parental differences were heritable. It is concluded that correlations were sufficient for glasshouse-grown tubers to be used for assessing large numbers of progenies in genetical studies and for eliminating highly susceptible progenies at an early stage in a breeding programme. R.L. Wastie died 16.01.96.     

Mute swan grazing on winter crops: estimation of yield loss in oilseed rape and wheat

Yield loss due to grazing by mute swans was measured on two fields each of autumn-sown oilseed rape and winter wheat, located in three regions of the UK. Using a paired plot design, a 33.7% reduction in yield (total dry weight of seed) and a 12.1% reduction in the thousand-seed weight was measured in the rape field subjected to the highest grazing intensity. No significant yield loss was measured in the other three fields. Yield loss was related to: (i) the timing of the onset of grazing, and (ii) the duration of grazing (both estimated from counts of mute swan droppings). Management measures which delay the onset of grazing and/or reduce the duration of grazing are therefore likely to reduce yield loss.     

A glasshouse progeny test for resistance to tuber blight (Phytophthora infestans)

Summary The susceptibility to tuber blight (Phytophthora infestans) of seedling progenies from ten crosses involving resistant and susceptible parents was assessed by inoculating tubers grown in the glasshouse and in the field. The mean level of tuber blight in each progeny corresponded with the resistance category of the cross, and the rank order of increasing susceptibility was almost identical in both tests. It is suggested that two samples of ten glasshouse-grown seedlings, each seedling providing two tubers harvested as the plants begin flowering, is an adequate sample size on which to predict the tuber blight susceptibility of a progeny.

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Zusammenfassung Die Anf?lligkeit gegen Knollenbraunf?ule von 10 Nachkommen, einmal von Knollen im Gew?chshaus angezogener S?mlinge (1984), zum anderen von im Feld gewachsener Pflanzen (1985), wurde verglichen. Vier Nachkommen von resistenten Eltern, drei von anf?lligen Eltern und drei aus ‘resistent x anf?llig’-Kreuzungen (Tabelle 1) wurden in zwei Blocks von 40 Pflanzen 9 Wochen lang in 10 cm-T?pfen angezogen. Acht Proben von 10 Pflanzen wurden von jedem Nachkommen entnommen (und zwei Knollen von jedem Topff zu Beginn der Blüte Anfang September), durch Tauchen in eine Zoosporen-Suspension vonPhytophthora infestans inokuliert, und 8 Tage danach die Anzahl der infizierten Knollen festgestellt. Der mittlere Grad von Braunf?ule bei jedem Nachkommen entsprach der Resistenzgruppe der Kreuzung (Tabellen 2 und 3). Im Gew?chshaus angezogene Knollen der gleichen Nachkommen wurden im Feld in zwei Wiederholungen (Blocks) mit 16 bzw. 23 S?mlingen je Nachkommen ausgepflanzt. Die beiden Blocks wurden mit Schwester-Knollen bepflanzt, so dass jeder S?mling in beiden Blocks vorhanden war. Die Knollen wurden nach 16 Wochen geerntet, danach inokuliert und wie zuvor geschildert ausgewertet. Die Rangfolge mit ansteigender Anf?lligkeit war in beiden Tests fast identisch (Tabelle 2). Daraus wird geschlossen, dass zwei Partien von 10 S?mlingen mit je 2 Knollen eine angemessene Probengr?sse zur Vorhersage der Knollenf?ule-Anf?lligkeit eines Nachkommens darstellen (Tabelle 4). Der Test ist schnell und einfach in der Handhabung und erm?glicht in Verbindung mit einer Prüfung der Krautf?uleanf?lligkeit die M?glichkeit einer Auslese sowohl auf Krautf?ule als auch auf Knollen-Braunf?ule im gleichen Jahr.

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Résumé La sensibilité de 10 lignées au mildiou du tubercule est évaluée à partir de tubercules issues de plantules cultivées en serre (1984) et en plein champ (1985). Quatre lignées de parents résistants, 3 de parents sensibles et 3 de croisements résistant x sensible (tableau 1) sont cultivés dans deux blocs de 40 plantes mises en pots de 10 cm pendant 9 semaines. Huit échantillons de dix plantes sont prélevés dans chaque lignée et deux tubercules sont retirés de chaque pot au premier stade de la floraison début septembre, puis inoculés par trempage dans une suspension de zoospores deP. infestans; le nombre de tubercules contaminés est enregistré après 8 jours. Le niveau moyen de contamination dans chaque lignée correspond à la catégorie de résistance du croisement (tableaux 2 et 3). Les tubercules issus de la serre et appartenant aux mêmes lignées sont plantés en plein champ dans deux blocs, chacun comprenant deux échantillons de 16 à 23 plantules par lignée. Les deux blocs sont plantés avec des tubercules d'un même pied, de sorte qu'il y a deux répétitions pour chaque plantule. Les tubercules sont récoltés après 16 semaines puis inoculés et notés comme précédemment. Le classement par ordre croissant de sensibilité est pratiquement identique dans les deux tests (tableau 2). En conclusion, deux lots de 10 plantules, chacune produisant deux tubercules, constituent un échantillon approprié pour analyser la sensibilité d'une lignée au mildiou des tubercules (tableau 4). Le test est simple et rapide, et combiné au test sur feuille, il offre la possibilité de détecter la résistance au mildiou des feuilles et des tubercules dans la même année.

     

Measurement of color in potatoes

Reproducible, objective methods which conformed closely to visual appraisal were developed for measuring color differences in either cooked or raw potatoes. Experimental samples, selected from lots stored at various temperatures for different periods of time, differed in extent of graying and yellowing. Ricing was found to be preferable to mashing as a method of cooked sample preparation. A comparison of methods of sample presentation using the Gardner Color Difference Meter showed thin-layer measurement was most successful in separating cooked samples differing in amount of yellow pigment; deep-layer measurement was most successful in separating grayed samples. A simple method for measurement of color differences in raw tubers successfully separated the samples. All three methods of sample presentation were significantly correlated with visual ranking.     

Resistance of Corynespora cassiicola from soybean to QoI and MBC fungicides in Brazil

Fungicide sprays on soybean in Brazil have contributed to the selection of less sensitive isolates of Corynespora cassiicola. We collected 59 isolates of C. cassiicola from three Brazilian states and two isolates from Paraguay. We investigated their EC₅₀ to quinone outside inhibitors (QoI) and methyl benzimidazole carbamate (MBC), any cross-resistance to compounds within QoI and MBC groups, and characterized the polymorphisms in their cytb and β-tubulin genes. Local associations of polymorphisms identified in each gene were statistically correlated with assays results. In total, 79% and 74% of the isolates were classified as resistant to QoI and MBC fungicides, respectively. There was positive cross-resistance to active ingredients within QoI and MBC groups. For QoI, all isolates presented heteroplasmy in G143A of cytb gene; the mutations F129L and G137R were not found. For MBC, 63% of isolates possessed E198A and 21% possessed F200Y mutations, associated with reduced control by MBC fungicides. Heteroplasmy was identified in two and one isolates from Brazil with E198A and F200Y mutations, respectively. The resistance factor for isolates with E198A (10.9) was statistically similar to the isolate with F200Y (8.8) mutation. Genic association analysis of the in vitro assays using discriminatory doses proved them to be accurate. Reduced sensitivity of C. cassiicola to QoI and MBC was also identified in isolates from Paraguay and resistance to QoI and MBC was widely present in C. cassiicola isolates from the main soybean-producing states in Brazil. Thus, integrated management measures should be adopted to manage soybean target spot in these countries.