Evaluation of globe artichoke and related germplasm for resistance to artichoke latent virus

Summary A total of 280 globe artichoke (Cynara scolymus L.) clones were assessed for reaction to naturally occurring artichoke latent virus (ALV) in field trials. Also, the reaction of 17 seed progenies of crosses which produced ALV-resistant clones in the field, 20 self progenies of parental genotypes common to these crosses, self progenies of 17 artichoke cultivars, and 7 accessions ofC. cardunculus andC. syriaca were evaluated in the glasshouse following mechanical inoculation with ALV. The local and systemic presence of ALV, and the relative virus content in infected plants were determined by ELISA.All cultivars and most of the otherC. scolymus material tested (clones and seed progenies) proved to be highly susceptible to ALV. Ten progenies were less susceptible to mechanical inoculation as shown by the moment the virus could be detected, and a slow rate of accumulation of viral antigen. Some plants in two seed progenies possessed apparently a high resistance as could be concluded from the failure of ALV to spread or to multiply in plant.Accessions ofC. cardunculus andC. syriaca were also highly susceptible to ALV. However, an interspecific hybridC. cardunculus x C. syriaca presented the highest level of resistance, the plants remained free of local and systemic infection. Ratios of resistant to susceptible plants in self progenies of resistant plants suggested that this resistance was dominant.