Evaluation of resistance to sharka (Plum pox virus) of several Prunus rootstocks

Sharka (Plum pox virus, PPV) severely affects the production of most Prunus species in the areas affected by the disease. In this study, the resistance of 15 Prunus rootstocks to a Dideron type isolate of PPV was evaluated under controlled conditions in an insect‐proof greenhouse. After four cycles of study,‘GF677’ almond x peach hybrid,‘Myrobolan 29C plum and ‘L2’ cherry did not show any symptoms and were ELISA‐DASI and RT‐PCR negative. These were considered resistant to PPV. The rest of the rootstocks assayed showed symptoms of sharka (confirmed by ELISA‐DASI or RT‐PCR), although the level of susceptibility was different for each rootstock.‘GF305’ peach, ‘Puebla de Soto’ plum and ‘Real Fino’ apricot, were highly susceptible to PPV, showing strong sharka symptoms and being ELISA and RT‐PCR positive. ‘Marianna 2624’ plum,‘AC 9921‐07’ hybrid and ‘CP‐2’ plum showed susceptibility to PPV confirmed by ELISA‐DASI and RT‐PCR positives.‘Nemaguard’ and ‘Nemared’ hybrids, ‘Torinel’ plum and ‘STN2’ hybrid showed an intermediate susceptibility to PPV with slight sharka symptoms and were ELISA‐DASI and RT‐PCR positive. Whereas, ‘Montclar’ peach and ‘Evrica’ hybrid showed moderate resistance to PPV with slight sharka symptoms and were ELISA positive but RT‐PCR negative. The results open new possibilities in the search for different sources of resistance to PPV within Prunus.     

Development of B-Genome Chromosome Addition Lines of B. napus Using Different Interspecific Brassica Hybrids

By interspecific hybridization within the genus Brassica, trigenomic haploids were produced and back-crossed four times with B. napus, variety ‘Andor’. From this material, monosomic B-genome chromosome addition lines were selected with the extra chromosome derived from three different B-genome sources, i.e., B. nigra (BB), B. carinata (BBCC), and B. juncea (AABB). After selfing and/or microspore culture, disomic addition lines were obtained. Meiotic behavior was studied of the trigenomic hybrids, the pentaploid BC₁ plants, and the monosomic addition lines. The addition lines were shown to possess cytological stability and good fertility.     

Efficiency of reduced primer selectivity and bulked DNA analysis for the rapid detection of AFLP† polymorphisms in a range of crop species

Two approaches to optimise AFLP fingerprinting forthe rapid detection of genetic polymorphisms, i.e.reduced primer selectivity and bulked DNA analysiswere examined. The efficiency of reduced primerselectivity to increase the detection frequency ofgenetic polymorphisms and to obtain more informativefingerprinting profiles was tested in six differentcrops. The number of selective nucleotides was reducedto six in onion, to five in barley, potato, lettuceand cabbage, and to four in flax. This allowed therapid identification of several primer pairs that wereable to discriminate between closely relatedgermplasm. Reproducibility tests on replicate DNAsamples indicated no major negative effects on thereliability of the fingerprinting profiles due to theuse of less selective primers, although for onionpurified DNA was needed to avoid irreproducibleresults. In barley, flax and onion, a less thanfourfold increase in the number of fragments wasobserved when primer pairs were reduced by oneselective nucleotide. This result was attributed todifferent tolerance levels for amplificationmismatches between primer pairs of differentselectivity.The efficiency of bulked DNA analysis to detectgenetic polymorphisms was investigated in differentmixtures of two barley DNA samples. AFLP's of varyingintensity could still be recovered when the two DNA'swere mixed in a 1:1 ratio. However, the frequency ofrecovered bands quickly dropped when in the mixturesthe presence of the DNA carrying the fragments wasdecreased below 50%.The usefulness of the two approaches is discussed inrelation to various aspects of genetic resourcesmanagement.     

Sources of resistance to Verticillium wilt in Capsicum

Summary A total of 125 novel accessions of Capsicum annuum L. and Capsicum baccatum L. were screened for sources of resistance to Verticillium wilt (Verticillium dahliae Kleb). A soil infestation method with 2000 microsclerotia of V. dahliae per gram of planting medium, and a soil temperature of 25±3°C, identified 27 Capsicum accessions with resistance to Verticillium wilt. P.I. 215699 (a mixture of Capsicum baccatum var. microcarpum and Capsicum annuum), P.I. 535616 (Capsicum annuum), and P.I. 555614 (Capsicum annuum), had the lowest disease severity and the highest percentage of resistant plants.     

五个澳洲野生棉种的核型研究

对斯特提棉（Ｇ．ｓｔｕｒｔｉａｎｕｍ）、南岱华棉（Ｇ．ｎａｎｄｅｗａｒｅｎｓｅ）、澳洲棉（Ｇ．ａｕｓｔｒａｌｅ）、纳尔逊氏棉（Ｇ．ｎｅｌｓｏｎｉ）和比克氏棉（Ｇ．ｂｉｃｋｉ）五个澳洲野生棉种的染色体核型进行了分析研究。结果表明，五个澳洲野生棉种的核型比较相似，均有两对随体染色体，种间的核型重合率均大于８５％，其中斯特提棉与南岱华棉、澳洲棉与纳尔逊氏棉，及其比克氏棉与澳洲棉或纳尔逊氏棉之间的核型重合率大于９０％。此外，本文对比克氏棉的系统发育和染色体组划分等问题进行了讨论。     

Comparison of nuclear DNA content of citrus rootstock populations by flow cytometry analysis

Citrus species are widely grown in the world. Plant characteristics of the rootstock populations used for orange, lemon, mandarin and grapefruit cultivars should be known as well as those of the cultivars that help true‐to‐type nursery plant production. In this study, cell nuclei were isolated from leaf tissues of seedlings of trifoliate orange, sour orange, rough lemon,‘Volkamer’ lemon,‘Cleopatra’ mandarin,‘Hyokan’, ‘Sanbokan’, ‘Kinkoje’, ‘Carrizo’ citrange and ‘Swingle’ citrumelo, and then fluorescence intensities were measured on propidium iodide‐stained nuclei by flow cytometry. Nuclei isolated from the triploid ‘Tahiti’ lime with a known nuclear genome size were used as the internal standard to estimate the nuclear DNA content of Citrus seedling populations in absolute units. Results obtained from cytograms and histograms indicated that all seedlings analyzed were diploid. In addition, differences between the species for nuclear DNA content were also found to be significant. ‘Hyokan’ seedlings had the biggest genome size, 0.984 pg/2C, whereas trifoliate orange seedlings had the smallest genome size, 0.678 pg/2C. Flow cytometry analysis could be used for obtaining accurate and rapid results for cytological observations of seedling populations of Citrus.     

Inheritance pattern for pod lenghth and ovule number in wide crosses among Cajanus and Atylosia species

Summary Six interspecific/intergeneric F₂ populations involving two cultivars of C. cajan and five Atylosia species were scored for segregation patterns for pod length and ovule number. It was observed that for both characters the F₂ means and the ranges were correspondingly lower than the midparent values and the spread of the two parents. However, the intrageneric cross of A. lineata and A. scarabaeoides showed transgressive segregation for pod length and the F₂ mean and range were correspondingly larger than the midparent value and spread of the two parents, suggesting the usefulness of combining ability test for choice of suitable parents.     

Natural variation within the genus Beta and its possible use for breeding sugar beet: A review

Summary Sugar beet is a relatively young crop, which supposedly has a narrow genetic base. Natural variation occurring in primitive beet varieties and in wild Beta species has been used for breeding sugar beet. This paper reviews information on desirable characteristics in Beta germplasm and the attempts made for the introgression of such characters into commercial breeding material. After an introduction on the availability of germplasm and the possibilities of hybridisation, attention is focussed on the mating system (especially male sterility), on morphological and physiological characteristics, including yield and sugar content, and on resistances to diseases and pests.     

The Importance of the Bolivian Wild Potato Species in Breeding for Globodera pallida Resistance

Screening for resistance to the potato cyst nematode, Globodera pallida, in potatoes from. Bolivia, was carried out in 1983 and 1984, using a mixture of four nematode populations representing pathotypes Pa₁, Pa₂ and Pa₃ From the 66 accessions of 17 species and subspecies evaluated, highly resistant genotypes were identified in 21 accessions from seven species. All had Pf/Pi values of 2 or less, whereas the susceptible control, Solanum tuberosum cv. ‘Disiree’ had Pf/Pi values of more than 2G in both tests. Two diploid wild species, S. brevicaule and S. leptophyes, showed the best resistant. The geographical distributional of resistant populations and the evolution of resistance in wild potato populations are discussed.     

Mitochondrial DNA Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphisms in Malus Species

Three apple (Malus×domestica) cultivars and 11 Malus accessions have been investigated by the probe hybridization method on their mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The gene probes used were: coxI, coxII, atpA, atp6, and atp9. Our results revealed enough variation to characterize ten mtDNA haplotypes among the Malus genotypes examined. The taxonomic and phylogenetic implications of mtDNA polymorphism are also discussed.