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ARS Home » Midwest Area » Madison, Wisconsin » Vegetable Crops Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #228861
Title: Verticillium Wilt Resistance in U.S. Potato Breeding Programs

Author
item JANSKY, SHELLEY

Submitted to: American Journal of Potato Research
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 4/10/2009
Publication Date: 11/1/2009
Citation: Jansky, S.H. 2009. Verticillium Wilt Resistance in U.S. Potato Breeding Programs. American Journal of Potato Research. 86(6):504-512.

Interpretive Summary: Verticillium wilt (VW), caused mainly by the soil-borne fungus V. dahliae, is a persistent and serious problem in potato production. It is currently controlled with chemical means through soil fumigation. An attractive control strategy is the development of resistant cultivars, but major cultivars are susceptible to VW. Resistance to VW was evaluated in 14 advanced clones from U.S. potato breeding programs and 11 cultivars. It appears that breeding progress is being made toward the development of cultivars with VW resistance. The four most resistant clones were unnamed advanced selections. Resistant clones had low scores for all three measures of resistance in this study, but susceptible clones were highly variable in their response to disease pressure. Large effects of production year were detected, probably because one summer was warmer than the other in this two-year study.

Technical Abstract: Verticillium wilt (VW), caused mainly by the soil-borne fungus V. dahliae, is a persistent and serious problem in potato production. Host-plant resistance offers an attractive control strategy, but major cultivars are susceptible to VW. Resistance to VW was evaluated in 14 advanced clones from U.S. potato breeding programs and 11 cultivars. It appears that breeding progress is being made toward the development of cultivars with VW resistance. The four most resistant clones were unnamed advanced selections. The three measures of resistance used in this study were symptom expression in the field, colonization of stem sap, and numbers of propagules in senescent stems. Resistant clones had low scores for all three measures, but susceptible clones were highly variable in their response to disease pressure. Large effects of production year were detected, likely due to differences in air temperature during the growing season. One strategy to efficiently use all three measures of resistance is to first identify clones with low symptom expression, then measure colonization of sap in those clones. Finally, among the clones with low symptom expression and stem colonization, identify those with low levels of propagules in senescent stems.