SCREENING FOR STREPTOMYCES SOIL ROT RESISTANCE IN SWEETPOTATO

Abstract

Streptomyces soil rot or pox, caused by the actinomycete Streptomyces ipomoea, is a destructive root disease of sweetpotato. Evaluation for resistance to S. ipomoea in naturally infested fields, requires much space and results may vary from year to year. In this study a greenhouse method for evaluating the response of sweetpotato clones to infection with S. ipomoea was developed. The greenhouse method used fibrous roots, developed on terminal vine cuttings. Experiments showed no time by clone interaction, indicating that this method gave consistent results when repeated. A study to determine corrrelation between field resistance of clones and resistance as found by the greenhouse method was done. Thirty-nine clones were screened for resistance using the greenhouse method and were also planted in a field naturally infested with S. ipomoea. Severity of disease on fibrous roots (greenhouse method) and on storage roots (field method) was evaluated visually using a scale of 0 to 5 (0: no symptoms. 5: severe symptoms). Although correlations between data from the greenhouse and field methods were low lo moderate (r=0.17 to 0.49). extremely susceptible or resistant clones were identified as such by both methods. These results suggest that it is possible to select clones with high resistance to S. ipomoea using the greenhouse method, which provides a better controlled environment, and requires less space than field evaluations.