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Title: POWDERY MILDEW OF WATERMELON. CAN WE FIND RESISTANCE?

Author
item Davis, Angela
item Bruton, Benny
item Levi, Amnon
item Pair, Sammy
item Thomas, Claude

Submitted to: HortScience
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 2/4/2002
Publication Date: 8/1/2002
Citation: Davis, A.R., Bruton, B.D., Levi, A., Pair, S.D., Thomas, C.E. 2002. Powdery mildew of watermelon. Can we find resistance [abstract]? HortScience. 37:746.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Powdery mildew has been a devastating disease for many cucurbit crops in the past. However, watermelon has typically been resistant to this disease. Unfortunately, outbreaks of powdery mildew in watermelon were confirmed last year in OK, TX, FL, CA and SC, suggesting introduction of a more virulent race of powdery mildew. We have screened Citrullus lanatus for resistance to a virulent race of Sphaerotheca fuliginea. Results of our study demonstrated that resistance powdery mildew exists in the Plant Introduction Germplasm Collection and inheritance of the resistance appears to be under control of multiple genes. The information gained from this study will be useful in transferring powdery mildew tolerance into commercial watermelon cultivars thus reducing the number of fungicide applications necessary for the control of powdery mildew on watermelon.