Resistance to Kernel Infection byFusarium moniliformein the Sweet Corn Inbred IL125b

Abstract

Susceptible and resistant inbreds, F 1 , F 2 , F 3 , and backcross generations from crosses of IL125b (resistant) and Ia2256b or IL783a (susceptible) were evaluated for incidence of symptomatic and asymptomatic infection of kernels by Fusarium moniliforme. The results of generation mean analysis indicated that additive and dominant gene actions accounted for most of the variability among generation means. Broad-sense heritability ranged from 0.24 to 0.46 for a-symptomatic infection and from 0.32 to 0.55 for symptomatic infection. The estimated number of effective factors ranged from 3 to 12. Distributions of incidence classes for symptomatic and asymptomatic infection in F 2 and backcross families were continuous and highly skewed toward the resistant parent, IL125b. Resistance appeared to be controlled by several genes. A breeding method maximizing the accumulation of alleles for resistance, such as recurrent selection, would be effective in breeding for resistance to F. moniliforme kernel infection when using IL125b as a source of resistance.