Relative resistance of potato cultivars to bacterial wilt

Fifty-one potato cultivars were evaluated for reaction to infection byPseudomonas solanacearum Sm. under high disease pressure in a field plot near Tifton, Georgia during the spring of 1978 and 1979. Plots were infested by clipping beds of thickly seeded tomato plants with a rotary mower contaminated with the wilt baterium in 1975, 1976, 1977 and 1978. The plants were incorporated into the soil following disease development. In addition to the use of infested soil, one stem on each potato plant was inoculated in late May by cutting with a knife blade dipped in a bacterial suspension. Most of the cultivars evaluated were highly susceptible to bacterial wilt. Ontario was the only cultivar highly resistant to the disease, with only 1% and 8% dead or dying plants in 1978 and 1979, respectively. Based on tuber infection, Ontario and Snowchip were the most resistant, with 9% and 14% infection, respectively, in 1978 and both 4% in 1979. Saco, Green Mountain and Sebago also showed some resistance.