Abstract
Fusarium basal rot (FBR) caused by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cepae (FOC) is a highly destructive soil borne disease incurring heavy damage in pre and post harvest onion and garlic crops worldwide. Only a few onion lines exhibit partial resistance against the pathogen and there is a need for identification of more effective resistance sources for use in breeding programmes. Selected sets of wild onion and garlic accession and seven related Allium species were screened for resistance to Fusarium basal rot using three FOC isolates. FOC infection revealed significant variation among the evaluated Allium species (at P = 0.001). A. sativum accession ‘CBT-As153’ showed high level of resistance to each isolate while A. cepa accession ‘CBT-Ac77’ exhibited intermediate resistance. Among related Allium species, A. fistulosum, A. roylei and A. schoenoprasum were highly resistant, A. tuberosum had mixed response while A. griffithianum was susceptible. Further, the root density of Allium species negatively correlated with disease incidence for different FOC isolates. Thus, the present study suggests that besides related Allium species, A. sativum ‘CBT-As153’ can be used as a potential donor of FBR resistance for genetic improvement of onion and garlic in India.
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Acknowledgments
ER is grateful to Dept. of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India for financial support in the form of Junior Research Fellowship. The authors are thankful to Dr Patitapaban Dash for his help with statistical analysis and the President, Siksha O Anusandhan University for his guidance and support. The work is funded by research grant (SR/FT/LS-41/2012-13) from Science and Engineering Research Board (SERB), DST, Government of India.
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Rout, E., Tripathy, P., Nanda, S. et al. Evaluation of Cultivated and Wild Allium Accessions for Resistance to Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. cepae . Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., India, Sect. B Biol. Sci. 86, 643–649 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-015-0506-0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40011-015-0506-0