Abstract
Early blight of potato and tomato is caused by Alternaria fungi and negatively impacts crop yields. Environmental factors and plant maturity influence disease development, which is usually kept under control by fungicide applications. Wild tuber-bearing Solanum section Petota species are a promising source of resistance to early blight that could be used to control the disease, for example by crossbreeding or modern breeding approaches. An efficient screening method is a first prerequisite for the identification of resistant genotypes in wild Solanum germplasm. Here, we describe a protocol that can be used to rapidly screen for resistance to early blight in wild Solanum collections. This protocol provides a good starting point for the identification of resistant genotypes and is a step towards breeding for resistance to early blight using wild Solanum species.
Highlights
Blight of potato and tomato is caused by Alternaria fungi and negatively impacts crop yields
Alternaria fungi are associated with diseases in potato
Blight is characterised by the appearance of dark necrotic lesions on infected leaves, which are often restricted within the leaf veins and have a typical concentric ring pattern
Summary
Depending on the size of the leaves of the genotype tested, 4–6 droplets can be used to inoculate each compound leaf. A pronounced effect of leaf position on lesion size was seen in the susceptible genotypes, pointing to an effect of leaf maturity on early blight development (Fig. 3), as was observed previously by others (Rodriguez et al 2006; Odilbekov et al 2014).
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