Articles
Screening and detection of Malus germplasm resistant to apple blotch disease (Diplocarpon coronariae)
Article number
1327_10
Pages
81 – 88
Language
English
Abstract
Apple blotch, caused by the hemibiotrophic ascomycete Diplocarpon coronariae ((Ellis and Davis) Wöhner and Rossmann) currently threatens organic apple orchards in Europe.
The pathogen causes premature defoliation in apple trees prior to fruit harvest.
Control with synthetic fungicides is possible, but they are restricted in organic apple production.
Apple cultivars are highly susceptible to D. coronariae. The development and cultivation of resistant cultivars is crucial to defeat the disease in the future.
Resistance breeding first requires knowledge about the etiology of the disease and the development of phenotyping methods.
Importantly, the screening of germplasm collections, which represent large genotypic variation of the host species, is a prerequisite for the identification of putative resistance donors.
Inoculation assays and phenotyping procedures, which were developed for Malus germplasm screenings in the field, greenhouse and in the laboratory, facilitated the screening of a total of 234 apple cultivars and 516 Malus wild species accessions leading to the identification of 10 accessions that showed high resistance against D. coronariae. Future work will investigate the heredity potential of these novel resistances to establish to what extent the trait can be used in breeding to develop resistant apple cultivars.
The pathogen causes premature defoliation in apple trees prior to fruit harvest.
Control with synthetic fungicides is possible, but they are restricted in organic apple production.
Apple cultivars are highly susceptible to D. coronariae. The development and cultivation of resistant cultivars is crucial to defeat the disease in the future.
Resistance breeding first requires knowledge about the etiology of the disease and the development of phenotyping methods.
Importantly, the screening of germplasm collections, which represent large genotypic variation of the host species, is a prerequisite for the identification of putative resistance donors.
Inoculation assays and phenotyping procedures, which were developed for Malus germplasm screenings in the field, greenhouse and in the laboratory, facilitated the screening of a total of 234 apple cultivars and 516 Malus wild species accessions leading to the identification of 10 accessions that showed high resistance against D. coronariae. Future work will investigate the heredity potential of these novel resistances to establish to what extent the trait can be used in breeding to develop resistant apple cultivars.
Authors
T. Wöhner, S. Richter, M. Höfer
Keywords
apple, D. coronariae, phenotyping, Malus, wild species, inoculation
Groups involved
- Division Plant Genetic Resources, Breeding and Biotechnology
- Division Tropical and Subtropical Fruit and Nuts
- Division Temperate Tree Fruits
- Division Vine and Berry Fruits
- Division Ornamental Plants
- Division Vegetables, Roots and Tubers
- Division Plant-Environment Interactions in Field Systems
- Division Greenhouse and Indoor Production Horticulture
- Division Postharvest and Quality Assurance
- Division Precision Horticulture and Engineering
- Division Horticulture for Human Health
- Division Temperate Tree Nuts
- Division Landscape and Urban Horticulture
- Division Sustaining Horticulture in a Changing World
- Working Group Humulus and Other Cannabaceae
Online Articles (111)