A Stringent and Broad Screen of Solanum spp. tolerance Against Erwinia Bacteria Using a Petiole Test

Blackleg and stem rot caused by coliform bacteria belonging to Dickeya spp. and Pectobacterium spp. (both referred to as Erwinia in this paper) are a problem for potato growers worldwide and no sources of high tolerance are currently present in the cultivated S. tuberosum gene pool. To find sources of tolerance, 532 genotypes from 340 accessions, covering most of the known potato species, were assayed with P. wasabiae, P. carotovorum and D. ‘solani’ species in a petiole test. This petiole test was optimized later on using well responding genotypes from the broad screen. Based on the obtained data, the best developmental stage for cell wall degradation tests was identified to be the 4th-6th youngest leaf. Under the stringent biotic and climatic screening conditions used, only three genotypes were regarded as tolerant against all tested Erwinia species. These genotypes all belonged to the series Yungasensa, this series can be readily crossed with cultivated potato and is considered as a genetic source to upgrade the Erwinia tolerance level of cultivated potato.