Genetic relationship between races of Pseudomonas syringae pv.pisi and cultivars of Pisum sativum

Isolates of Pseudomonas syringae pv. pisi from the UK and overseas were categorized into six races on the basis of their reactions to a range of differential pea (Pisum sativum) cultivars. Race 2 was predominant among the isolates examined and this probably reflects its relative international importance. A previously uncharacterized race (race 6) was virulent on all cultivars tested. Resistance to races 1-5 was widespread in commercial cultivars and breeding lines with more than 75% showing resistance to one or more races. A preliminary study of the inheritance of resistance indicated that for races 1, 2 and 3, resistance was controlled by different dominant genes. The genetic basis for the relationship between races of P. syringae pv. pisi and pea cultivars was explained in terms of a gene-for-gene relationship involving five matching gene pairs. With further clarification of the genetics of resistance this host-pathogen association will meet most of the requirements of a model system for the study of the genetic and molecular basis of pathogenicity and host specificity.