Abstract
Fusarium wilt incited by Fusarium oxysporum f. sp. melonis (F.o.m) is one of the most widespread and devastating melon diseases. While resistance to physiological races 0, 1, and 2 is relatively frequent in different botanical varieties, sources of resistance to race 1,2 are restricted to a few Far-Eastern accessions. In this work, the results of a screening for resistance to F.o.m. race 1,2 among 32 accessions are presented. Three Japanese accessions (‘Kogane Nashi Makuwa’, ‘C-211’, and ‘C-40’) showed the highest resistance levels, but useful levels of resistance were also detected in one Russian ‘C-160’ and two Spanish (‘C-300’ and ‘Mollerusa-7’) accessions. These resistant materials, together with other accessions previously described as resistant to F.o.m. races 0, 1, and/or 2 have been morphologically and molecularly characterized. Based on cluster analysis, these accessions have been grouped according to the botanical subspecies they belong to. Assessment of genetic diversity indicated that the resistant accessions to races 0, 1 and 2, are scattered along the established clusters. On the other hand, high levels of resistance to the race 1,2 could be found only among accessions belonging to Cucumis melo subsp. agrestis, nevertheless, a certain degree of resistance to this race could also be found within some accessions belonging to subsp. melo. As far as we know, this is the first report of resistance to F.o.m race 1,2 found out from the Far-Eastern melon material. Based on fruits characteristics, it appears that several inodurus and cantalupensis accessions could be exploited in breeding programs as resistance sources to F.o.m races 0, 1 and/or 2 for the improvement of these melon types. The accessions with the highest levels of resistance to the race 1,2 appeared to be very distant both molecularly and morphologically from the commercial types. Nevertheless ‘C-160’, ‘C-300’, and ‘Mollerusa-7’ classified as var. inodorus are morphologically very similar to the Spanish commercial types and might be used as resistant sources in breeding these melon types.
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