Screening winter-sown, intermediate-day onion cultivars for resistance to fusarium basal rot
2006
Gutierrez, J.A. | Molina-Bravo, R. | Cramer, C.S.
Fusarium basal rot (FBR), caused by Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. cepae, is a soilborne fungal disease that affects bulb onions (Allium cepa) worldwide. Winter-sown onion cultivars that are resistant to FBR are lacking. The goal of this project was to screen winter-sown onion germplasm for FBR resistance using a mature-bulb field screening at harvest and after 4 weeks in storage. The project was conducted for 2 years, and in each year, 22 winter-sown onion lines were grown in a field known to produce a high incidence of FBR-infected bulbs. At maturity, the basal plates of 20 randomly selected bulbs were cut transversely and each plate was scored for disease severity on a scale of 1 (no diseased tissue) to 9 (70% or more diseased tissue). Bulbs were stored and scored again at 4 weeks after harvest. Severity and incidence increased in storage for both years. NMSU 99-30, 'NuMex Arthur', and 'NuMex Jose Fernandez' showed the lowest disease severities and incidences in both years. For fields that produce a high incidence of FBR-infected bulbs, these cultivars could be grown with less loss to FBR at harvest and after storage than more FBR-susceptible cultivars. When developing FBR-resistant cultivars, breeding lines should be evaluated over multiple years and bulbs should be stored for 4 weeks before being screened.
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